Unexpected
by harryginnyluv4ever
Summary: Harry's summer takes an unexpected turn when...come on, you know you want to find out! Sequel to Another Ball, Another Broken Heart
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Sorry for the wait on getting the sequel up, I had major writer's block. Actually, as I type this I still have no idea what I'm going to write, so I hope this chapter turns out okay. Anyway, I'll stop babbling and type this so I can post it. On with the show!

Major thanks to everyone who reviewed "Another Ball, Another Broken Heart", you guys are all so nice! Thank you for taking the time to review!

It was the last day of school, and everyone was on the train, almost everyone was happy to start vacation. Harry and Ginny weren't happy though, because Dumbledore had decided that Harry would not be allowed to visit the Burrow until the last week of August. Harry was very upset about this. He understood the headmaster's reasons, but he still didn't like them.

"Oh Harry, please cheer up, will you?" said Hermione, beginning to get annoyed with Harry's sulking. "We'll write you lots of letters, we promise."

"Yeah mate, I could get mum to try to convince Dumbledore to let you come earlier," said Ron.

"Ron, if Dumbledore thinks that Harry is safest with the Dursleys, then that's where he should be," snapped Hermione.

"Well I was _trying_ to cheer him up!" said Ron, his ears turning scarlet.

"We all know that Dumbledore won't let him come early, there's no need to give him false hopes!" said Hermione, her brown eyes flashing dangerously.

"Will you two give it up? This is the last time we'll see Harry until August, and you're ruining it for everyone!" said Ginny angrily, looking frighteningly like Molly Weasley.

Hermione and Ron glared at her and stopped bickering. Hermione absorbed herself in a book about transfiguration, and Ron started stuffing himself with Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.

Harry hated to admit it, even to himself, but he was jealous of Ron and Hermione. Hermione would be spending the whole summer at the Burrow, and they would have lots of fun together. Harry wanted desperately to spend the summer with Ginny, but he knew he couldn't, and he thought it was very unfair.

Ginny seeming to sense his bad mood, leaned closer to him and whispered "I know you're mad at Dumbledore, but he's doing what he thinks is right, Harry. He's not trying to make your life miserable."

"I'm going to miss you so much," said Harry, wrapping his arm around Ginny.

"I'll miss you too, Harry," said Ginny, giving him a weak smile. "I'll miss you too."

When they arrived at the station, Uncle Vernon was there waiting for him as usual, with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. All three of them were glancing around nervously, very aware that a lot of the people around them were wizards.

Mrs. Weasley wrapped Harry and Ginny in a huge hug as soon as they arrived. Fred and George were standing behind her, wearing identical evil twin grins. Harry gulped nervously.

"Oh Harry, Ginny, I missed you so much. I'm so happy you and Ginny got together," said Mrs. Weasley, releasing them from her tight hug. "Of course, Ginny owled me right after the ball, telling me what a wonderful time she had dancing with you."

"Mum, _please_," moaned Ginny, blushing furiously.

Fred and George came over to them, still grinning evilly.

"So Harry," said Fred.

"We hear that you are dating our baby sister here," said George.

"I am not a baby!" exclaimed Ginny, receiving stares from passing people.

"If you make our dear baby sister cry," said Fred, ignoring Ginny's outburst.

"We will make you cry harder," explained George, ruffling Ginny's hair.

Ginny gave the twins each a sharp smack on the arm. "Stop threatening him you prats or I'll hex you into next week!"

The twins left to go tease Ron and Hermione.

"I guess this is goodbye," said Ginny sadly.

"I'll miss you Gin," said Harry. "Ginny, I-"

"Hurry up boy, we haven't got all day!" growled Uncle Vernon. Mrs. Weasley shot him a look of disgust.

Ginny gave him a kiss and turned to walk away, but Harry grabbed her hand to stop her.

"I love you," said Harry, uncomfortably aware that the twins and Mrs. Weasley were keeping a very close eye on them.

"I love you too, Harry," said Ginny, starting to cry.

"Oh Ginny, please don't cry I didn't mean to upset you," said Harry, wrapping her in a hug.

"Harry, I'll miss you so much!" sobbed Ginny. "Please don't leave me."

Harry didn't want to let her go, but Uncle Vernon grabbed him by the shoulder and started to drag him away. Her sobs seemed to echo in his mind, tearing at his heart.

The car ride home was far from pleasant. Uncle Vernon was pushing all his buttons, insulting all the people he cared about.

"What was that dumpy woman on about, glaring at me like _I'm_ the weird one," Uncle Vernon snorted at this absurd idea.

Harry was grinding his teeth and had a firm grip on his wand. It was taking all of his strength not to use the bat-bogey hex Ginny had taught him on his uncle.

"And that strange red head girl that I suppose is his _girlfriend_," snarled Uncle Vernon. "She was a complete lunatic! She completely snapped when her brothers were talking to Harry."

"She probably gets it from her parents; remember when her father completely ruined our beautiful living room? Well, I mean, it's obvious that anyone trying to travel by _fireplace_ is insane," said Aunt Petunia, leering at Harry from the front seat.

Harry was pretty sure that his wand would snap from the hard grip he had on it. His jaw was beginning to ache from clenching his jaw, but he knew if he opened his mouth he would regret it for the rest of the summer.

"Well, it's pretty obvious that they're crazy," said Dudley, a sly glint in his piggy little eyes. "I mean, they're friends with _Harry_!"

Harry wasn't really aware of letting go of his wand. He didn't even know what he was doing as his fist made contact with Dudley's large jaw. A few seconds after it happened, when he felt the pain in his knuckles and heard Dudley's howl of pain, he realized what he had done.

_Oh no, Uncle Vernon is going to kill me _thought Harry, as his uncle began to make grunting noises and turned around to look at Harry.

"GET OUT!" yelled Uncle Vernon. "THAT'S IT, I'VE HAD ENOUGH! YOU GET YOUR BAGS AND GO!"

Harry quickly exited the car, ran around to the trunk, and gathered his stuff. As soon as he closed the trunk the car sped off out of sight.

_What do I do now?_ thought Harry as he stood by the side of the road._ I'm an underage wizard with a wand, a trunk full of books, an owl and a broomstick. That really won't get me very far in the muggle world._

Harry decided to write a letter to the Weasleys explaining his predicament. He got parchment and a quill out of his trunk and began his note.

_Dear Mr and Mrs. Weasley and everyone else,_

_The Dursleys have kicked me out of the car because we had a fight. I am not entirely sure where I am, and I don't really have anywhere to go. It would be wonderful if you could help me, as I don't have any idea what I should do, and is starting to get dark out. I am very sorry for bothering you._

_Love,_

_Harry_

The Weasleys and Hermione were enjoying a bedtime snack of homemade lemonade and chocolate chip cookies.

"Well, I guess we should be getting to bed," said Mrs. Weasley, looking around at all the sleepy faces.

"Yeah, I'm exhausted," said Ron, failing to stifle a large yawn.

"Hey Ginny," said Fred, pointing to the window. "Isn't that Harry's owl?"

Ginny looked up startled. "Yeah, it is! Gosh, I wonder why he's sending a letter to me tonight."

Hedwig flew in the open window and dropped the letter in Mrs. Weasley's lap. She read it out loud to everyone, and looked up to see scared faces.

"Arthur, the death eaters will find him!" whispered Mrs. Weasley fearfully. "He'll never survive the night!"

"How will we find him?" asked Ginny, her eyes brimming with unshed tears.

"I'm not sure darling, but we will," said Mr. Weasley. "I promise."

Ginny hugged her father, letting her tears fall onto his tattered bathrobe.

Ron and Hermione exchanged nervous glances. They both knew how much danger Harry was in.

Meanwhile, Harry was still sitting on the side of the road when he spotted a policeman nearby. Making a quick decision, he pulled his invisibility cloak over him and held his breath as the policeman approached.

"What in the world?" exclaimed the policeman, rubbing vigorously at his eyes. "I saw someone here just a second ago!"

Harry jumped when he heard a booming laugh coming from another approaching policeman.

"You must have fallen asleep Robert, there's no one there," said the other policeman, with a grin on his face.

"I swear Aaron, someone with a large trunk and a broom was there two seconds ago!" exclaimed Robert, pointing about three feet to the left of where Harry was standing.

Aaron shook his head and took Robert by the arm. "Come on pal; let's go get you some coffee."

Harry sighed with relief when they got into their car and drove off. He checked his watch and saw that it was past midnight. He hoped the Weasleys would find him soon.

A/N: I know it's a bit short, but I really have to stop there for now, because the next chapter will probably be big. Well, I hope so at least. Please review, reviews make me really happy!


	2. Chapter 2

The Weasleys and Hermione had contacted the Order and told them that Harry was missing. A few minutes later, many Order members had apparated into the Weasley's kitchen to come up with a plan to find Harry.

"So we have no idea of his whereabouts at all?" asked Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"None at all Kingsley," answered Tonks, sipping at a cup of tea.

"He must be somewhere between King's Cross and Privet Drive," said Lupin. "Why don't we search the muggle highway first?"

"Good idea, Remus," said Dumbledore, who was sitting at the head of the table. He stretched out a map in front of him and started pointing to where each person should go.

Ron and Kingsley had been told to port key very near Privet Drive. They grabbed onto the port key (a rubber duck) and were quickly transported there.

"This place is kind of creepy," said Ron, observing all the neatly kept lawns and identical houses.

"It's certainly not friendly looking, that's for sure," replied Kingsley.

"So, where should we start?" asked Ron.

"I guess we should search the nearby streets, but I doubt he's this close to his home anyway," answered Kingsley.

"This isn't his home, Kingsley," Ron told him. "The Burrow is his home, and Dumbledore should have let him come home with us today. None of this would've happened if he wasn't so controlling."

"Well, I have to admit, you have a point," said Kingsley. "He does seem to control Harry's life more than necessary, but I have a feeling that there's more to it than that."

"How?" asked Ron, searching the empty street for any sign of Harry.

"Of course he wants to protect Harry because of You-Know-Who," said Kingsley. "But I also think he does it because he loves him. Harry is like the grandson he never had."

* * *

Meanwhile, Hermione and Tonks were searching the large parking lot of King's Cross.

"Tonks, he's not here," said Hermione, after searching the lot for the sixth time.

Tonks sighed and ran her hands through her bright turquoise hair. "You're probably right, Hermione. But I have to keep looking."

"Why?" asked Hermione.

"Because if we stop, we'd be giving up," explained Tonks. "And I just can't give up on Harry, because he never gives up. Never."

Hermione thought about this, and realized that Tonks was right. And so she continued searching with added determination.

* * *

Ginny was searching with her dad about ten miles from the station.

"Dad?" said Ginny quietly.

"Yes, Gin?" said Mr. Weasley.

"Do you think…do you think You-Know-Who got him?" asked Ginny fearfully.

"No, I don't Ginny," said Mr. Weasley.

"Good," said Ginny, returning to her search.

They didn't find anything for a while, until Ginny noticed something in the ditch on the side of the road. She hurried over, and found Harry curled up in a ball, fast asleep.

"Dad!" she shouted, causing Harry to jump up in surprise. "I found him! He's here!"

Mr. Weasley ran over and let out a huge sigh of relief when he saw Harry, with his arms wrapped around Ginny.

"Are you okay, Harry?" asked Ginny, checking him for injuries.

"I'm fine Gin," he said, standing up and gathering his things. "Thank you so much for finding me, I was beginning to get a little worried."

Mr. Weasley made a port key, and moments later they were at the Burrow. Nobody else was back yet, but they had agreed to meet at two in the morning, which was in ten minutes.

"I'll bring your things up to Ron's room for you, Harry," offered Mr. Weasley.

"Thank you very much Mr. Weasley," said Harry, sitting at the table next to Ginny.

"Oh I'm so glad you're here Harry, now maybe you can stay the summer with us," said Ginny, passing Harry a cookie and some lemonade.

"I hope so Gin," replied Harry. "At least we know that Dumbledore can't send me back to the Dursley's, there's no way they'd take me back."

Pretty soon everyone was back, and they were all glad to see Harry. Everyone left after they saw that Harry was alright, except for Dumbledore.

"Harry, tomorrow morning I will bring you back to your aunt's place and explain to them that they must keep you this summer, okay?" said Dumbledore.

"No," said Harry. "You don't understand, they said they don't want me. Ever."

"Well, I'll just have to explain to them-"

"No!" shrieked Mrs. Weasley, placing her hands on her hips. "He is staying here and that is _final_!"

Everyone stared at Mrs. Weasley. She blushed and continued on. "Those terrible muggles are not his family. We are."

"Molly, look, you don't understand the circumstances. If it was anyone other than Harry I would agree, but it's much too dangerous for everyone-"

"Harry is staying here and I don't give a damn what you have to say about it," said Mrs. Weasley, her eyes narrowed furiously. "Please leave, you are not welcome here."

Professor Dumbledore sighed and disapparated.

"Molly," said Mr Weasley gently. "You really can't talk to Dumbledore like that."

"Watch me!" she growled. "Now, to bed with all of you. Goodnight." she added, hugging each of her children, including Harry and Hermione.

Fred, George, Ginny, Ron, Harry and Hermione headed for the stairs yawning and stretching.

"Goodnight Harry," said Ginny, giving him a peck on the cheek before turning and heading into her room.

Hermione and Ron said goodnight to each other and then Harry and Ron entered Ron's room. They fell asleep before even getting undressed.

* * *

The next morning they woke up to find Dumbledore sitting at the kitchen table deep in conversation with Mrs. Weasley. They looked up when they saw Harry, Ginny and Hermione enter the room. Ron was still asleep.

"Good morning everyone," said Mrs. Weasley. "Would you like pancakes?"

Everyone nodded sleepily and turned to look at Dumbledore, wondering what he was doing here.

"Harry, Mrs. Weasley doesn't agree with me, but you _must_ go back to your aunt's house," said Dumbledore, looking at Harry wearily. "I explained it to you at the end of your fifth year, you understand, don't you?"

"I'm not going back, I cant," said Harry, pouring syrup on the pancakes Mrs. Weasley had given him. "You don't know my uncle, he won't take me back. He made that very clear."

"That reminds me, why did he kick you out of the car?" asked Hermione, looking at him curiously.

"My uncle was insulting the Weasleys, and, well, I didn't mean to, but…" Harry trailed off, looking sheepishly at his pancakes.

"What did you do?" asked Hermione. "You didn't use magic did you? Oh Harry, you could be expelled!"

"I didn't use magic," he told her, finally meeting her eyes. "I punched my cousin."

Everyone in the kitchen looked at him, shocked. Well, Ginny was trying to hide a grin, but everyone else looked shocked. Mrs. Weasley was staring at him open-mouthed, not noticing that the pancake she was cooking was turning black.

"Er, well," said Dumbledore, recovering first. "I could still talk to them, I'm sure I could, er, _convince_ them somehow."

"Professor, we all know that even if Harry's uncle does take him back, he'll kill him," said Ginny, unaware of the syrup dripping down her chin.

Dumbledore sighed. "Harry, you do realize that if you stay here, you will be in _extreme_ danger, right?"

Harry nodded; a hopeful look on his face.

Dumbledore sighed and got up out of his chair. "Very well then. I must be going. Good day to you all."

After Dumbledore disapparated, Ginny shrieked happily and wrapped her arms around Harry.

"You're staying!" exclaimed Ginny, letting go of Harry to dance around the kitchen.

A dishevelled Ron entered the kitchen, looking at Ginny strangely. "Did I miss something?"

"Harry is staying!" yelled Ginny happily, grinning madly.

"All summer?" asked Ron.

"Yes, definitely," answered Mrs. Weasley.

"Alright!" exclaimed Ron, joining Ginny's "happy dance".

Hermione and Mrs. Weasley both smiled at Harry, and he was very happy to be home.

* * *

A/N: I'll try to get the next chapter up today or tomorrow, but I don't have many ideas yet. As always, I'm going to sit here and beg everyone to review:) please?

Thank you very much to my reviewer jeevesandwooster, you're so kind! I hope you'll be able to sleep knowing that Harry is staying at the Weasley's for the summer, yay!

A/N: I finally figured out how to put lines in between scenes!


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you to my great reviewers: jeevesandwooster, buckbeakrules and Wolf's scream. You guys rock, thanks for reviewing!

* * *

After breakfast, everyone decided to play quidditch. It took quite a bit of convincing to get Hermione to play, but when Ron made puppy eyes at her she finally agreed to play.

Harry, Ginny, Bill and George were one team. Bill was keeper, and everyone else was chasers. They wouldn't be using seekers or beaters because they didn't have anything they could use as the snitch or bludgers. They were using an apple as the quaffle.

The other team was Ron, Hermione, Fred and Charlie. Ron was their keeper.

"Oh, I don't know about this," whined Hermione, as she hovered about six feet above the ground on Ron's old Shooting Star.

"Come on Hermione, it will be fun," said Ginny, doing dives on her Firebolt, which Harry had gotten her for Christmas.

Hermione whimpered and looked down, immediately wishing she hadn't.

Soon after the game began, Ginny scored two goals. She did a few victory laps around the yard.

"Ron, stop watching Hermione and concentrate on the game!" said Charlie, passing the "quaffle" to Fred.

Ron's ears turned red and he looked away from Hermione.

Fred passed to Hermione, and she scored her first goal.

"I did it!" she exclaimed, beaming.

"Er, Hermione," said Harry, trying not to laugh. "You just scored on your own goal. It was a good try, though."

Hermione blushed and avoided the "quaffle" for the rest of the game.

Harry's team won easily, and Harry and Ginny shared a victory kiss.

"Hey, Harry!" yelled Bill. "Stop snogging our baby sister and come inside for lunch!"

Harry and Ginny blushed and went inside.

* * *

"Did everyone have fun playing quidditch?" asked Mrs. Weasley, passing around sandwiches.

Everyone except Hermione nodded. She was still a bit wobbly from flying.

They ate outside enjoying the beautiful summer sunshine.

After lunch, Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione decided to go for a walk in the woods behind the Burrow.

"Have you been studying for your apparating test, Harry?" asked Hermione.

"Not yet," replied Harry.

"You should start soon, I studied for weeks before mine," she told him.

"Hermione, he has ages to study," said Ron. "I started studying the night before mine and I still passed."

"I still think it's better to be prepared," said Hermione.

"I wish I could take my apparating test," complained Ginny. "I have to wait until next August."

"Are you trying out for chaser this year, Gin?" asked Harry.

"I think so, if you'll let me on the team," said Ginny, grinning at him.

"What do you mean?" he asked, puzzled.

"Isn't it obvious, Harry?" asked Ron. "You're going to be captain this year, for sure."

"Probably not," said Harry. "Ron is better with planning moves and stuff; I just look for the snitch."

"You've been on the team longer," said Ginny.

"Yeah, but Ron would make a better captain," said Harry.

"Mate, you would do great as captain," said Ron. "Besides, I've still got my prefect duties, I couldn't let those slide."

"Sounds like Hermione is rubbing off on you," said Ginny, smirking at the pair.

Hermione looked pleased and Ron rolled his eyes.

* * *

When they got back to the house they found Tonks, Kingsley and Mad-Eye Moody sitting at the kitchen table.

"Wotcher," said Tonks, winking at them.

"Er, why are you guys here?" asked Ron.

"Ron, don't be rude!" exclaimed Hermione.

Kingsley laughed. "We're here to strengthen the wards around your house, to keep the death eaters out."

"Oh, I thought we already had pretty strong wards," said Ginny, grabbing an orange out of a basket of fruit.

"You do," said Moody. "But due to the circumstances, we have to make them stronger."

Harry was pretty sure that he was the reason the wards were being strengthened, and he felt guilty about all the trouble everyone was going to for him.

* * *

Tonks, Moody and Kingsley stayed for supper. Mrs. Weasley cooked wonderful spaghetti. Harry was quite sure that it was the best spaghetti he'd ever had.

"I'm completely absolutely full," announced Ron, having polished off his second plate of spaghetti.

"That's too bad, I guess you won't have room for my famous cherry pie," said Mrs. Weasley, clearing the dishes off the table.

"Well, I'm sure there's enough room for one little piece of pie," said Ron, glancing over at the perfect cherry pie sitting on the counter.

Indeed there was room; he finished three pieces of pie within five minutes. Hermione was staring at him as though he was a barbarian.

"Where does it all _go_?" she asked. "By all means, you should be about three hundred pounds, the way you eat!"

"Good metabolism, I guess," he said, shrugging.

After dessert, everyone sat in the living room with coffee.

"Harry, Lupin wanted me to ask you if you'd go with him to Diagon Alley tomorrow," said Tonks. "He said he could pick you up after breakfast."

"Sure, did he say why?" asked Harry.

"Wouldn't tell me," she answered between sips of coffee. "He wants it to be a surprise, I guess."

Harry shrugged, wondering what this was all about.

"Have there been any recent attacks?" asked Molly worriedly.

"There was a death eater attack on a muggle village, but no one was killed," said Kingsley. "We showed up while they were putting the cruciatus curse on some of the children, but they're all okay now."

"Any idea who was behind it?" asked Charlie.

"We don't have any evidence, because they disapparated as soon as we got there," said Moody. "But I'm pretty sure it was Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange."

Harry's stomach jolted unpleasantly when he heard Bellatrix's name. He hated her even more than he hated all the Malfoys combined.

Ginny noticed the pained look on Harry's face and wrapped her arms around him comfortingly.

Mrs. Weasley saw this and smiled sadly at the two. She was glad that they had found love in this terrible time of war. She was especially happy for Harry, because he needed people to support him right now.

"Has Hagrid been able to get any of the giants to join our side?" asked Mr Weasley.

"No," replied Kingsley. "We do have Grawp though," he added with a weak smile.

"We have found some important information regarding You-Know-Who's whereabouts," said Moody. He would have continued, but Mrs. Weasley cut him off.

"Harry and Ginny aren't Order members, we can't talk about this in front of them," she said.

"Mum, please?" asked Ginny.

"No, your mother is right," said Mr Weasley. "Why don't you two go upstairs or something?"

Ginny and Harry left the room, quite annoyed about this. Once they were in Ginny's room, she let out a howl of anger.

"I can't believe it!" she exclaimed. "Ron and Hermione are allowed to stay because they're _seventeen_ and they're official _Order members_! It's so unfair, you'll be seventeen in a few weeks, they should have at least let you stay!"

"We're going to end up right in the middle of this war anyway," mumbled Harry. "They know that. It would be helpful if we could have some idea of what's going on!"

Ginny's face was flushed with anger and her fists were clenched at her sides.

_Merlin, she's gorgeous when she's angry!_ thought Harry.

Harry pulled Ginny close to him and kissed her. She kissed back and pushed him up against the wall.

"Er, the meeting is over," said Hermione, blushing as she entered the room to find Harry and Ginny kissing.

Harry and Ginny quickly broke apart with red faces, looking sheepishly at the floor.

"Er, goodnight Gin," said Harry, giving herone last kiss before heading out the door.

"Goodnight Harry," said Hermione.

"You too 'Mione," he replied.

As soon as he was gone Ginny and Hermione burst into giggles.

A/N: I'm going to end it here because it's really late and I should be in bed. (Insert begging for reviews here)


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you so much to my reviewers: jeevesandwooster, MeTaMoRpHoSiS gUrL, FroBoy, and magicslifer (I completely forgot about having them having to be out of school…I mean cough they, er, changed the rules cough) and I'm really sorry if I missed anybody.

When Ginny and Hermione were in their pyjamas, Ginny asked Hermione about the meeting. Hermione glared at her.

"Ginny, you know very well that I can't give you secret information, I swore I wouldn't!" snapped Hermione. Ginny gave Hermione her saddest face. "Ginny, don't give me that look, I want to tell you, I just can't, I'm sorry."

Ginny sighed and settled into her bed. She knew Hermione would tell her if she could, but it still hurt that her best friend was keeping secrets from her.

"So, you and Harry were quite, ahem, _busy_ when I came in," Hermione commented, a smirk playing at her lips.

"Hermione, I can't spill my secrets unless you spill yours," replied Ginny.

"If you're trying to bribe me, it won't work," said Hermione calmly.

"Fine then, let's just get some sleep," answered Ginny, pulling the covers up to her chin.

"Alright then, goodnight," said Hermione, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

Three minutes later, Hermione cracked.

"Oh alright then, spill!" she exclaimed, sitting up in her sleeping bag.

Ginny smiled to herself. Her friend was so predictable.

"You promise to tell me your Order secrets too?" asked Ginny.

Hermione sighed. "I guess, as long as no one and I mean _no one_ finds out!"

"Deal," said Ginny.

"So, how are you and Harry doing?" asked Hermione.

"Amazing, he's so sweet, kind and romantic, I love him," answered Ginny. "I mean, I've loved him since, well, forever, but I never thought he would love me _back_!"

"Is he a good kisser?" asked Hermione, giggling.

"He's a great kisser," said Ginny, blushing slightly. "Not that I've really had much past experience with kissing, but from what I can tell he's pretty good."

"Ron is good too," said Hermione. "He's so handsome and- oh stop making faces Ginny!"

"But he's my _brother_, ick!" said Ginny. "I can't believe someone would _voluntarily_ kiss _Ron_!"

Now it was Hermione's turn to blush. "I happen to love your brother very much."

"Okay, so what about all your Order secrets?" asked Ginny. "Come on, spill!"

"We don't know where Voldemort is, but we think he's been recruiting some Hogwarts members to be death eaters," said Hermione quickly, as though she'd been dying to tell Ginny everything.

"Any idea who?" asked Ginny. "Malfoy?"

"Actually, we don't have any evidence that Malfoy has ever been involved with Voldemort," replied Hermione. "We think he might even join our side, but we'll have to wait and see."

Ginny made a face. "I don't believe that Draco Malfoy would ever join our side."

"People can surprise you, Ginny," said Hermione. "Blaise Zabini, for instance, has decided to join our side, and he's a slytherin."

"Are you serious?" exclaimed Ginny.

"Yes, he approached Dumbledore at the end of the year and joined the Order," replied Hermione.

"Was he at the meeting tonight?" asked Ginny. "Were you, like, hiding a whole bunch of new Order members in our basement or something, waiting for me and Harry to leave?"

Hermione snorted. "Of course not, he's on a mission."

"What kind of mission?" asked Ginny eagerly.

"He's trying to recruit more Order members for us, and he's a spy," said Hermione. "It's very dangerous; I'm quite surprised at the change in him."

"So, who are the death eaters at Hogwarts?" asked Ginny.

"Crabbe is, but we're not sure about Goyle," said Hermione. "We've received some evidence that...well..."

"What? Who is it?" asked Ginny.

"Michael Corner," said Hermione. "We think he's joined Voldemort."

Ginny was silent. She didn't know what to think.

_I can't believe it…Michael, a death eater. He seemed alright when I dated him. He's not even in slytherin…this is so confusing._

"Ginny, are you okay?" asked Hermione, worry evident in her deep brown eyes.

"I can't believe it, he…Michael…," Ginny trailed off, lost in her thoughts. "I kissed a _death eater_!"

"We're not certain that he's joined Voldemort, it could be false information," said Hermione comfortingly.

"No, it's completely true," said Ginny. "He was always asking me about Harry, I thought he was just worried because of my crush on him, but it all makes sense now. He kept nagging me about it, and when I refused to talk about it he broke up with me."

"That's not what you told us before," said Hermione. "You said it was about quidditch. You said that _you_ broke up with _him_, not the other way around."

"I lied," said Ginny. "I didn't want Harry to think I was still hung up on him, and I didn't want any pity from anyone for being dumped."

"Ginny, you should have told us this earlier!" exclaimed Hermione. "This information would be important for the Order!"

"Why is it important that I got dumped?" asked Ginny irritably.

"Him wanting information about Harry is further proof of him being a death eater!" said Hermione.

"Fine, tell the Order, I don't care," snapped Ginny. "I'm going to bed, goodnight."

"But Ginny, there's one more person I didn't mention," said Hermione.

"Who is it? Dean Thomas?" asked Ginny sarcastically. "Are all my ex-boyfriends death eaters?"

"No, it's Colin Creevey," said Hermione. "I'm sorry Ginny, I know he's a friend of yours-"

"You're lying!" growled Ginny. "Don't accuse my friends of being death eaters, Colin would _never_ get involved with that!"

"We have evidence Ginny!" said Hermione angrily. "I know he's you're friend, but that gives you no right to accuse me of lying!"

"What's the evidence then?" asked Ginny, a dangerous gleam in her eyes.

Hermione glared at her and began to explain "There was an attack on some muggles near his house-"

"That means nothing," said Ginny. "Besides, he's muggle-born, why would he join Voldemort?"

"His wand was found next to the body of one of the muggles," said Hermione.

When Ron got back from the meeting, he found Harry looking over his charms homework.

"Sorry I took so long, I stayed back to ask Kingsley if he knew how Hagrid's mission was doing," explained Ron, sitting on Harry's bed next to him.

"Is he okay?" asked Harry.

"They got a letter from him yesterday," replied Ron. "He says he isn't having much luck with the giants."

"So what happened at the meeting?" asked Harry. Ron always gave Harry information; he said he'd had his fingers crossed when he swore not to tell Harry anything.

"They found one new death eater since the ones I told you about last time," said Ron.

"Who?" asked Harry.

"Colin Creevey," said Ron.

"Are you sure?" asked Harry.

"Almost positive, his wand was found at one of the attacks," said Ron. "It's really hard to believe, especially since he always followed you around and stuff."

"I never paid any attention to him tough," said Harry. "I always got annoyed with him. It's all my fault; I should've given him a chance."

"Harry mate, you can't blame yourself for everything," said Ron. "Anything could've made him do it, maybe it was because he didn't have many friends, or maybe he was bullied into it."

"Ginny was his friend," said Harry. "We could've been too."

Ron nodded. "I guess we all could have made more of an effort."

"Anything else?" asked Harry.

"Not really," said Ron. "We still don't know where Voldemort is."

Harry sighed. The Order had been searching endlessly, but they hadn't had any luck finding Voldemort yet.

"I suppose we should get some sleep then," said Harry. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," said Ron. "And don't you dare have any dreams about my sister!"

Harry snorted into his pillow and fell into an uneasy sleep, still worrying about Voldemort.

A/N: I'm sorry this is very short, but I wanted to get it posted. Next week I might be going away, but I'm not sure yet, so I may or not update a lot next week. The week after that my cousins are visiting from far away. I only see them once a year, so I'm staying with them at my grandparent's house. They don't have a computer, so there won't be any updates that week. I will try to update between vacations though. I'll try to get a chapter or two up tomorrow (technically today, since its past midnight). I'm sorry for the inconvenience to you, my wonderful readers and reviewers.

Also, you will find out more about Colin Creevey, don't worry. And you may be wondering why Ginny and Harry were so annoyed at being left out of the meetings if they still end up getting information from Ron and Hermione. The answer is that they're more mad at the idea of being left out than anything, and they want to ask questions to people like Dumbledore and the aurors, but they can't since they're not allowed to attend meetings. Ron and Hermione could ask for them, but it might begin to look suspicious if they ask too many questions.

Please review, reviews make me so happy!


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you to my wonderful reviewers jeevesandwooster and MeTaMoRpHoSiS gUrL, you guys are awesome!

* * *

The next morning, Harry woke up at 7:00 am, so he quietly went downstairs, expecting to be the first one up. He was surprised to find Hermione sitting at the kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee.

"Good morning, Harry," said Hermione. "Why are you up so early?"

"Ron was snoring really loudly," said Harry. "What about you?"

"I always wake up early," replied Hermione. "Would you like some coffee, Harry?"

"No thanks, I don't drink coffee," he answered.

"You used to," she commented. "Why did you stop?"

"Ginny told me I shouldn't drink it because the caffeine isn't healthy," said Harry, pouring himself a glass of pumpkin juice.

Harry could have sworn he'd heard Hermione mutter "whipped" out of the corner of her mouth. He pretended to ignore it though, and looked up as an owl delivered the _Daily Prophet_.

"Oh no, what does it say today?" asked Hermione, spotting the look on Harry's face.

Harry pointed to the article on the front page, a blank look on his face. "Read it," he told Hermione.

_Harry takes a vacation from the muggles_

_By Rita Skeeter_

_Harry Potter has spent every summer of his life with his muggle relatives in Privet Drive up until now. During the car ride to his aunt and uncle's house, Harry beat up his defenceless muggle cousin and stormed out of the car, refusing to return home with his relatives. His uncle pleaded with him to stay, but when Harry threatened him with his wand, he was forced to drive away, leaving Harry alone in a small muggle village near London. He then forced his friend Ronald Weasley's family to come and get him, and then he whined for them to keep him for the summer. Dumbledore was against this, but after Harry had one of his famous temper tantrums, Dumbledore gave in to him. Harry will be staying at the Burrow, which is located near…_

"Oh Harry, what are we going to do?" asked Hermione fearfully. "Now that they know where you're staying, it's not safe anymore. Death eaters could come at any moment."

_I can't believe it, _thought Harry angrily, _they had to go and ruin what should have been the best summer of my life. Now I might have to back to the Dursleys!_

Harry pushed his anger aside because he knew that the most important thing was to get everyone out of the Burrow.

"We have to wake up the others and alert the Order," said Harry.

Harry and Hermione ran as fast they could up the stairs to Mr and Mrs. Weasley's bedroom.

Hermione knocked loudly on the door. "Wake up! It's an emergency!" she exclaimed. "Oh please hurry; we don't have a lot of time!"

Mrs. Weasley opened the door with a worried look on her face. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Harry and Hermione quickly explained the problem to her.

"Go wake the others," instructed Mrs. Weasley. "Tell them to pack up all their things as quickly as possible and to meet us downstairs in the living room."

Harry and Hermione did this, and then hurriedly packed up their own things. A half hour later, everyone was gathered in the living room with their trunks, still wearing their pyjamas.

"We're going to floo to Lupin's house," said Mr Weasley. "Don't waste any time, follow me!"

Mr Weasley grabbed a handful of floo powder and stepped into the fireplace. "Lupin's place!" he shouted, and he was gone in the blink of an eye.

* * *

Pretty soon, everyone was in a large pile on Lupin's floor, covered in scratches from Crookshanks.

"Oh Molly, Arthur, I'm so glad you all came," exclaimed Remus, as he rushed into the room. "I read the _Prophet_ and I was so worried about all of you. I'll alert Dumbledore that you're here; I'll be back in a jiffy."

Remus dropped a handful of floo powder into the fire and stepped into it. "Dumbledore Manor!" he yelled, vanishing from sight.

Everyone stood up and gathered up their things.

"Are we staying here?" asked Fred. "It's a wee bit small for all of us, wouldn't you say?"

Harry looked around Lupin's one-floor house. The living room was very cramped, and had a few mismatched chairs scattered around the room. To his right, he could see a kitchen with bright green walls, and to his left were a bedroom and a bathroom. From what Harry could see, that was all there was to Lupin's house.

"Of course we're not staying here," replied Mrs. Weasley. "We wouldn't possibly all fit, and I don't think it would be fair to burden Remus with so many houseguests."

"Where are we going to stay then?" asked Ron.

"We don't know yet, Ron," answered Mr Weasley.

Dumbledore and Remus stepped out of the fire.

"Dumbledore, you're not going to send Harry back to the Dursley's house, are you?" asked Ginny.

"I cannot, Ginevra, as the _Prophet_ gave away the location of his aunt and uncle's house in their article," answered Dumbledore.

"Where are we staying?" asked Hermione. "My parents are on holiday in Canada, I can't go back home."

"You will be staying at Potter Manor," replied Dumbledore.

"There's a Potter Manor? Why didn't you tell me before?" asked Harry, annoyed that Dumbledore was keeping secrets from him again.

"Remus was going to take you there today," said Dumbledore. "We had been hoping it would be a bit of an early birthday surprise."

"But why didn't you tell me when I was younger?" asked Harry. "I wouldn't have had to stay with the Dursleys."

"That's exactly why I didn't tell you," he answered calmly. "I knew it would be tempting for you, but I also knew that you would be safest at your aunt's house. However, due to the circumstances, this is the safest place we have. Right now, Tonks, Kingsley and Moody are checking the wards around the house."

"Professor, is there room for all of us?" asked Hermione. "We are quite a large group."

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Yes, there will most certainly be room for all of you."

"When do we leave?" asked George.

"Can we eat before we leave?" asked Bill. "I'm starving."

"Of course," said Dumbledore. "Molly, would you make some breakfast?"

"Sure, what would you like?" she asked.

"Waffles," answered Ginny, before anyone else could open their mouth.

"But I wanted-ow! That was my foot!" exclaimed Charlie. Ginny gave him her best evil grin.

* * *

About a half hour later, everyone was seated in the living room with waffles (Remus's table wouldn't fit everyone).

"These are wonderful, Molly," said Dumbledore.

"Thank you," said Mrs. Weasley.

When everyone was done and the dishes were cleaned, everyone lined up at the fireplace, ready to floo to Potter Manor.

"Harry should go first," said Mrs. Weasley. "It is his house, after all."

"Alright then Harry, take some floo powder," said Dumbledore, handing him the pot that had been sitting on the mantle. "And say 'Potter Manor'."

Harry did this, his trunk and Hedwig beside him, and shut his eyes as he felt the familiar whooshing sensation.

* * *

A/N: I'm going to try to get another chapter up tonight, unless my mom makes me get off the computer. Please review! 


	6. Chapter 6

Harry stumbled out of the fireplace, speechless at the sight before him. Potter manor was _huge_. The living room was beautifully furnished, with a large window overlooking a quidditch pitch the same size as the one at Hogwarts.

"Wow," gasped Ginny, as she fell out of the fireplace and landed on the floor beside Harry. "Harry, your house is awesome!"

Hermione landed directly on top of Ginny, who received a large scratch from Crookshanks.

"Ouch!" screamed Ginny. "Stupid cat, get off me!"

"Maybe we should get up before the others come through," suggested Hermione.

The two made to get up, but Ron and Charlie, holding Pig between them, fell on the two girls.

"What are you two doing, sitting in front of the fireplace!" exclaimed Ron.

"Trying to get up, you useless lump, now move!" yelled Ginny.

The four of them got up and moved before the twins came through. Both of them gracefully stepped out of the fireplace and waked over to everyone.

"How do you do that?" asked Ginny, staring at them in disbelief.

"Do what?" asked George.

"You didn't fall getting out of the fireplace!" said Charlie. "How'd you do it?"

"Ah, that is for us to know and for you to find out," answered Fred, grinning evilly.

* * *

Pretty soon, the Weasleys, Hermione, Harry, Lupin and Dumbledore were all gathered in the living room.

"Harry, this place is beautiful," said Hermione.

"Yes, it is," agreed Mrs. Weasley.

"Would you like to take a tour?" asked Dumbledore. "Bring you trunks; we can drop them off on the way."

* * *

The first stop was Harry's parent's bedroom. It was almost as large as the living room, and just as beautiful. The walls were a deep scarlet and the furniture and curtains were gold. It reminded Harry pleasantly of the Gryffindor common room.

"You can stay in this room Harry, since it was your parents," said Dumbledore, taking his trunk and Hedwig's cage and placing them at the foot of the bed.

Harry wanted to stay and explore the bedroom, but he followed everyone into the next bedroom. It was painted royal blue and had a door connecting it to Harry's parents' room. There was a crib in the centre of the room, and Harry realized that this must have been his room when he was little. There was a rocking chair next to the crib with a pink sweater draped over it.

_That must have been my mother's sweater_, thought Harry, feeling his eye's fill with tears. He quickly wiped them away, hoping no one had noticed. Hermione had though, and she looked at him sadly.

"Can I stay in this room, please?" asked Ginny.

"I don't know if that would be appropriate," said Mrs. Weasley. "It's connected to Harry's room."

"I promise I wouldn't sneak into his room," Ginny pleaded. "I just really like this room; it's so nice and peaceful."

"Well, alright," said Mrs. Weasley. "But you two had better behave!"

The Weasley brothers gave Harry very dangerous looks. Harry met their gaze, and they nodded, deciding that Harry would be trustworthy.

Hermione chose the next room, which was a beautiful shade of pink and had a great view of the lake behind Potter Manor.

Ron chose the room next to Hermione's. It was emerald green and had a CD player in it.

"What's that?" asked Ron, pointing to the CD player in the corner.

"It plays music Ron," answered Hermione. "I'll teach you how to use it."

"Music comes out of the box?" asked Ron, looking at the CD player with interest.

"Yes Ron, it's a muggle thing," said Hermione. "Harry's mother was muggle-born."

Mr and Mrs. Weasley's room was pale yellow, and had a big screen TV.

"A tellyvision!" exclaimed Mr Weasley excitedly. "Look, it even comes with one of those button things!"

"A remote," said Hermione.

"Right, that's what it is," he said. "Oh, I'm going to have lots of fun with this!"

Mrs. Weasley groaned.

* * *

Once everyone had chosen their rooms, they went downstairs to look at the kitchen.

"Oh this is lovely," said Mrs. Weasley. "Look at all these recipe books! And all the fancy cooking supplies, oh I can't wait to start cooking!"

Charlie opened the fridge and pulled out an extremely mouldy, smelly block of cheese.

"I don't think it's good anymore," he commented, throwing it back into the fridge.

"I'll have to clean that out," said Mrs. Weasley. "And all of you are going to help me clean this house, you hear me?"

The Weasley children, Harry and Hermione all nodded, not looking forward to the job ahead of them.

"I suppose I should be going," said Remus. "It is getting late, you know."

"Yes, I should be off too," said Dumbledore. "Goodnight to all of you."

They all said their goodbyes and Dumbledore and Remus disapparated.

* * *

Everyone in Potter Manor stayed up until midnight drinking hot chocolate and talking to each other about nothing in particular.

"So much has happened today," commented Hermione. "It seems like ages since we woke up at the Burrow."

"Yeah, I'm exhausted," said Ron, yawning loudly. "I'm going up to bed."

"Me too," agreed Ginny, getting off the couch and stretching. "Anyone else?"

Everyone decided to go to bed since it was late and they were so tired. They all finished their hot chocolate and headed upstairs to bed.

"Goodnight Ginny," said Harry, when they reached his bedroom door.

"Goodnight Harry," she replied. "Are you alright? This must be emotional for you, since it was your parents' house and all."

"I'm fine," he lied. "I love you."

"I love you too," said Ginny.

They kissed each other good night and went into their separate rooms.

When Harry got into his room he did not go to sleep though. He opened his parents' closet, wondering what he might find.

What he found shocked him. There, looking right at him, was a portrait of his parents. And they weresmiling at him.

"Harry, is that you?" asked his mother, looking at him hopefully.

* * *

A/N: I'm going to leave you at a bit of a cliff hanger here. I will try to update on Friday, but I won't be able to update Thursday because I'm leaving the house at 6:30 in the morning and I won't be home until the next day. Please review! 


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I am SO sorry for not updating for so long. I've been spending some time with relatives, then I stayed with my friend at her cottage, and of course I had to take a day off to read Half-Blood Prince. This story is going to be pre-HBP for two reasons: 1. I don't want to ruin the book for anyone who hasn't read it and 2. It would probably mess up the plot of this story quite a bit. Also, I'm very sorry to inform you that there will not be any updates this week because I'm staying at my grandparent's house and they don't have a computer. So unless I come home early, the next chapter should be Friday or Saturday of next week.

Also, one reviewer mentioned that the Potter's house was destroyed the night Lily and James were killed. That is true, but for this story we can just pretend that they were staying in their cottage to hide from Voldemort, so only the cottage was destroyed.

Thank you to my reviewers: MeTaMoRpHoSiS gUrL, jeevesandwooster, Ishita, Juli Black Potter, Jessica Halliwell Potter, FroBoy and RoxyLo. I'm terribly sorry if I missed anyone!

* * *

"Mum? Yeah…it's me," replied Harry, gazing longingly at the picture. "I didn't know you had a portrait."

"I made it before we died," explained Lily.

"Hi Harry," said James. "Wow, it's like looking in a mirror! You look just like me."

"He has my eyes," said Lily. "Have you been living here since we died, Harry?"

"No, we just got here today, actually," he replied. "I was living with Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, but they kicked me out on the way home from King's Cross this year."

"They kicked you out!" exclaimed James. "Those dirty rotten little-"

"My own sister kicked you out?" asked Lily. "How could she do that?"

Harry explained the whole story to them. Then they talked all night about what Harry had been doing his whole life, and his parents reminisced about when he was a baby.

"There was this one time when - hang on, did you hear that?" asked Harry.

"Sounds like someone's calling for you," said Lily. "Go see who it is."

Harry got up off the floor where he'd been sitting and went out into the hall. Ginny was standing at the top of the staircase waiting for him.

"Breakfast is ready," she told him. "Mum made French toast."

"Forget breakfast, Ginny, you have to see what I found," said Harry, taking her by the hand and leading her towards his room.

"What is it?" asked Ginny excitedly.

They entered the room together, hand in hand. The Potter's portrait was propped up against the wall where Harry had left it. Harry rushed over to it and Ginny followed eagerly.

"Harry…is that your parents?" asked Ginny, kneeling down in front of it.

"Yes, we are," said Lily. "You must be Ginny, right?"

Ginny nodded, staring open-mouthed at the portrait.

"You're very pretty," said Lily, smiling at her.

"You look like Lily," commented James.

"Thank you," whispered Ginny. "I can't believe it…you're actually Harry's parents!"

Lily and James laughed, breaking the tension a bit.

"I can't wait to get to know you," said Lily. "But I think I hear someone yelling for you, maybe you should go downstairs for breakfast."

"Harry, Ginny, your breakfast is getting cold!" exclaimed Mrs. Weasley. "Hurry up and get down here!"

"We'll come back after breakfast," said Harry to his parents, ashe and Ginnyleft the room.

* * *

Downstairs, everyone was seated around the table eating their breakfasts. They all looked up when Harry and Ginny came in.

"Where were you two?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

"You'd better not have been snogging my baby sister, Potter," said Charlie.

"We have some really special news for you all," said Ginny, sitting down between Harry and Bill.

"Are you pregnant?" asked Fred. "You'd better not be!"

Mr Weasley paled and dropped his glass of orange juice. "Ginny, please tell me you're not-"

"I'm not pregnant!" exclaimed Ginny. "You don't have to assume the worst every time I say that I have news!"

"Are you sure?" asked George. "Because you are looking a bit plump, you know."

"I don't know, maybe she's always looked like that," commented Fred, a sly look on his face.

Ginny silenced them both with a very intimidating glare that would have put even Professor McGonagall to shame.

"Now boys, let your sister tell us her news," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Harry found a portrait of his parents in his room," explained Ginny. "We've been talking to his parents."

Mrs. Weasley gasped and got tears in her eyes. She quickly pulled a handkerchief out of her apron pocket and dabbed at them.

"Oh Harry dear, you must be so happy!" she exclaimed, giving him a tight hug.

"Yeah, I am," said Harry. "Would you like to meet them?"

Everyone nodded and followed Harry up the stairs, eager to meet his parents.

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry this is going to be really short, but it's nearly midnight and I still haven't packed and I'm leaving for my grandparent's house early in the morning. I just needed to get this up because I don't want you guys to think I forgot about you! Please review, I'd love to come home and find that I have a few new reviews. 


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I'm back! Sorry I took so long to update, I've had a bit of writer's block. But now my writer's block is gone and I can update.

Thank you SO much to my reviewers: FroBoy, Juli Black Potter, Azabaza, RoxyLo, and MeTaMoRpHoSiS gUrL, you guys are awesome!

Disclaimer (I do have a habit of forgetting these things): I do not own Harry Potter.

* * *

Everyone started pushing each other out of the way to see the portrait. Harry and Ginny stood silently at the back, since they had already seen it.

"Wow Harry, you look just like your dad!" exclaimed Ron, shoving George to the side so he could see.

"Hello, I'm Hermione," said the bushy-haired girl sitting in front of the portrait. "You must be the Potters."

Harry and Ginny glanced at each other and tried not to laugh. Hermione was being so formal!

"Yes, we are," replied Lily. "Harry has told us so much about you."

"He says that you're the smartest witch in your year," said James.

"Congratulations," added Lily, smiling kindly at her.

Hermione blushed and looked away, trying to bite back a smile.

"You remind me of Lupin," commented James.

"How is he?" asked Lily, fear evident in her eyes. "He is alive, right?"

"Yeah, he's alive," answered Ron. "He might even come over today."

"What about Sirius?" asked James. "And Peter?"

Harry, Ron and Hermione explained that story, trying to recall the details of what happened that night in third year. Then, of course, they also had to tell them about Sirius's death in the Department of Mysteries.

"So it was Peter who betrayed us?" asked Lily, making sure she had all the facts straight.

"Yeah, Sirius was innocent," said Ron.

"Wow," said Lily, a tear falling down her face. (A/N: I don't really know if portraits can cry, but let's just pretend they can.)

"Well, enough of that depressing stuff," said James, breaking the tension with a grin. "What are you guys going to be doing today?"

"Cleaning," answered Mrs. Weasley, before anyone else could. "Lots of cleaning."

Harry, Hermione and the Weasley children groaned.

"I'm sorry, we didn't do a great job cleaning it out before we left," said Lily.

"Not to worry, we can get it done in no time," said Mrs. Weasley. "We should probably get started actually, it's nearly noon. Come on children, there's work to be done."

Everyone got up from where they were sitting and followed Mrs. Weasley to the kitchen, where she began to distribute jobs to everyone.

"Harry and Hermione, I want you two to clean out the fridge," said Mrs. Weasley, handing out large garbage bags to everyone. "Ron, Ginny and Bill, you two can clean out the basement, watch out for boggarts. Charlie, you and the twins can do the ball room, it's covered in cobwebs."

"They have a ball room?" asked Ginny. "For dancing?"

"Yes, lots of big houses like this do," said Mrs. Weasley.

"We should have a ball!" exclaimed Ginny, her eyes sparkling excitedly.

"That's a great idea!" cheered Hermione. "Can we please, Mrs. Weasley?"

"That would be lovely," said Mrs. Weasley. "But it's Harry's house, you'll have to ask him."

"Please, Harry?" asked Ginny, giving him her best puppy eyes.

"Uh, yeah, I guess," he mumbled. He hated dancing, but he knew that Hermione and Ginny would beg him until he said yes. This way, he could avoid hours of endless torture.

The girls squealed and hugged him, already planning out the details.

"When should we have it?" asked Ginny.

"You can decide that _after_ you clean," said Mrs. Weasley. "Go on, start cleaning!"

* * *

"Okay, open the door," Hermione told Harry, pointing to the fridge.

"Er, you can," said Harry, not wanting to have to smell whatever was inside it.

"It's your fridge, you can do the honours," replied Hermione, backing away from the fridge.

"If you open it, I'll help you plan the ball," said Harry, deciding that helping the girls beat cleaning mouldy fridges hands down.

Hermione seemed to struggle with herself for a minute, then she nodded.

"Alright, brace yourself," she said, opening the door.

They were immediately overwhelmed by a strong stench of spoiled milk and rotten eggs.

"Ugh, that's disgusting," said Hermione, tossing a carton of eggs into the bag.

Harry reached in and grabbed a carton of milk. He quickly threw it in the bag.

Hermione found a container of strawberry yogurt and started examining it.

"What are you doing?" asked Harry.

"I'm curious to see what the expiration date is, but I can't seem to find it," she replied. "Here, you look."

Harry took the container from her hands, but as he did, the lid fell off and mouldy yogurt spilled all over Hermione.

"Harry!" she screeched, trying to wipe yogurt off her face.

"Sorry," he said, trying to control his laughter. "How does it taste?"

"Absolutely awful!" she cried. "And stop laughing, it's not funny Harry!"

"Yes it is," he answered, not bothering to contain his laughter anymore.

Hermione growled angrily and flung yogurt at him. It landed in his hair and dripped all over his face.

"What was that for?" he exclaimed angrily.

"Does it taste good, dear?" Hermione asked mockingly.

"Hey, have you guys seen mum?" asked Ron, walking into the kitchen. "What happened to you?"

"Strawberry yogurt," snarled Harry. "Very _old_ strawberry yogurt."

"You better not let mum see this," warned Ron. "There's a big mess on the floor, and you guys smell like crap."

They looked down, and sure enough, the floor was splattered with yogurt, and the broken, rotten eggs had started to leak from the bag.

"Great, just great," mumbled Hermione, as Mrs. Weasley walked in.

"I'll be leaving now, have fun!" said Ron, slipping past his mother as Hermione shot him a menacing glare.

* * *

"So, how are Harry and Hermione doing?" asked Ginny, as Ron hurried down the basement steps.

"They've spilled mouldy yogurt over themselves and the floor," said Ron, grinning. "Mum walked in just as I was leaving."

"Oh wow, I wish I could have seen that!" laughed Ginny.

"Yeah, we got the easy job," replied Ron.

"Very easy," commented Bill. "Especially since neither of you is doing any work."

"Sorry Bill, I'll go start on the closet," said Ginny, still giggling.

Ginny opened the closet door, and screamed when she saw a dead Harry Potter looking at her with cold green eyes.

"It's just a boggart Ginny, I'll get it," said Bill, stepping in front of Ginny. The lifeless Harry was immediately replaced by the Fleur, with a very angry look on her face.

"_Ridikkulus_!" shouted Bill.

Fleur blew up like a balloon and started to float up to the ceiling.

All three of them laughed, and the boggart disappeared with a loud crack.

"The thing you're most scared of is Fleur?" asked Ron, laughing at his older brother.

"You haven't seen her when she's angry," replied Bill, his ears turning red. "Your boggart was certainly interesting, Ginny."

"If either of you tell Harry about it I will not hesitate to kill you," threatened Ginny.

"I won't tell him," promised Bill.

"Me either," said Ron.

"Good," said Ginny. "Let's get back to cleaning, then."

* * *

"What on earth happened?" asked Mrs. Weasley. "You two are covered in…whatever that stuff is!"

"Old yogurt," answered Hermione.

"Alright, well, lets get you two cleaned up," said Mrs. Weasley. "_Scourgify._"

Harry, Hermione, and the floor instantly became spotless.

"Perfect," said Mrs. Weasley. "Now, get back to work."

Mrs. Weasley left and Harry and Hermione started pulling things out of the fridge again.

* * *

"Hey, Fred, Charlie!" exclaimed George. "Come here and look at this!"

"What is it?" asked his twin, hurrying over to where George was standing by a fancy wardrobe.

"There's a door behind this wardrobe," replied George.

"Let's move the wardrobe then," said Charlie.

The three of them were quickly able to move the wardrobe to the side, and Charlie wrenched the door open.

"A staircase!" exclaimed Fred.

"Well come on then, let's go!" said Charlie.

The three of them raced up the dusty stairs and opened the door at the top. They found themselves in a very dusty attic.

"Oh, I guess it's just an attic," said Fred disappointedly.

"There might be something interesting up here," said George optimistically. "And anyway, it's a great place to hide from mum and get out of cleaning."

"Good point," said Charlie. "Want to look around a bit?"

"We should probably wait until later, mum will probably come to check on us soon," said George. "How about after dinner?"

"Sounds good to me," answered Fred, and the three of them went back to the ball room to continue cleaning.

They were lucky they hadn't stayed up there long, because Mrs. Weasley came to check on them a few minutes after they got back.

"It looks a lot better in here," she commented. "Harry and Hermione have finished cleaning the fridge out, so I'm going to go pick up some groceries in Diagon Alley. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

"Is dad home?" asked Charlie.

"Yes, but he's upstairs with his beloved television," said Mrs. Weasley. "I think he's going to marry it."

The boys sniggered and Mrs. Weasley left the room.

"Want to go see what everyone else is doing?" asked Fred.

"Sure, they're probably in the basement," said George.

The three of them went into the basement and found everyone down there drinking butterbeer.

"Hey, where did you get those?" asked Fred.

"I brought them with me," said Bill. "You guys want one?"

"Sure," said George, and they each took one and sat down.

"Have you found anything interesting down here?" asked Fred.

"Just a boggart," answered Ginny.

"And a lot of spiders," added Ron, shuddering.

"Anyone home?" someone yelled from upstairs.

Ginny screamed and her butterbeer fell and smashed on the floor. "Death eaters!"

"Relax Gin, not even a death eater would be stupid enough to announce his presence like that," said Harry.

"Let's go see who it is," said Bill, leading the way upstairs.

"Who is it?" asked Charlie, when they reached the top of the stairs.

"It's me, Lupin," he said. "Is anyone else home?"

"Dad is upstairs and mum is in Diagon Alley," said Fred.

"What have you guys been doing?" asked Lupin.

"Cleaning," answered Hermione.

"Have you found any secret passages yet?" asked Lupin.

"There are secret passages?" exclaimed Ginny.

"Of course there are, this house was built by the marauders," said Lupin.

"We found a passage to the attic in the ball room," said George. "It was behind a wardrobe."

"Can I see it?" asked Ginny eagerly.

"We're going back up after dinner, we'll show you then," said Charlie.

"This house has more secret passages than Hogwarts," said Lupin. "You should look around a bit."

"Do you know about all of them?" asked Harry.

"No, I think there's probably a few that even I don't know about," he answered.

"Will you tell us where one is?" asked Ginny. "Please?"

"No, it'll be much more fun if you find them yourselves," he replied.

"Can we even have a hint?" asked Ron.

"Just one little hint, please?" asked Hermione.

"Well, alright," he said. "There's one in the kitchen."

They all ran to the kitchen, eager to find a secret passage. Lupin followed behind them, laughing at their enthusiasm.

* * *

A/N: I'm going to end it here I guess, I'm pretty sure this is my longest chapter yet. I'm going to start writing the next chapter tonight, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to finish it. It will probably be up by tomorrow. Please review! 


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: A big thank you to my reviewers: RoxyLo (you rock too!), dancergirl2011 and MeTaMoRpHoSiS gUrL. You guys are the best!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

* * *

Everyone was searching the kitchen like their lives depended on it while Lupin surveyed the scene with amusement.

"Am I close?" asked Ginny, exploring one of the cupboards.

"Not at all," said Lupin.

"Am I?" asked Ron, looking inside the empty, but still slightly foul-smelling fridge.

"Nope," replied Lupin, clearly enjoying this.

"Is _anyone_ close?" asked Fred.

"Bill is," he answered.

Everyone whipped around to look at Bill, who was examining the sink. They all rushed over and quickly shoved him out of the way.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" exclaimed Bill as he received a particularly hard push from Charlie.

"How do we find it?" asked Hermione, peering at the sink intently.

"Try the taps," suggested Lupin with a sly grin.

Ron turned on both taps. Nothing happened.

"Try turning them the other way," said Ginny excitedly.

Ron turned both taps the wrong way, and the sink transformed into what appeared to be some sort of slide leading into darkness.

"Go on, it's not dangerous," urged Lupin, coming over to join them.

Ron glanced around nervously and lowered himself onto the slide. Closing his eyes tightly, he pushed himself down the slide.

"Wow this is awesome!" he exclaimed. "You guys have to see this!"

Harry went down next, and pretty soon everyone had followed him.

* * *

The sight that met them was amazing. The secret passage contained a full-scale indoor quidditch pitch. There was a set of fourteen brooms leaning against a wall, and a beautiful mahogany chest containing bludgers, beater bats, a quaffle and a snitch.

"This is totally…wow!" exclaimed Ginny, her eyes sparkling in delight.

"There's enough brooms for a full quidditch game," commented Charlie. "They're Nimbus 250's."

"Do you guys want to play a game?" asked Harry.

Everyone except Lupin agreed and grabbed a broom. Lupin decided to be the commentator.

The first team was Harry, Bill, Fred and Ginny. Harry was seeker, Bill was keeper and Fred and Ginny were chasers. They didn't have beaters because they didn't have enough people.

On the second team, Charlie was seeker, Ron was keeper and Hermione and George were chasers.

"Ginny with the quaffle, she passes to Fred," said Lupin, thoroughly enjoying his role as commentator. "Fred tries to score but is stopped by a great save made by Ron. Ron passes to George, who passes to Hermione. She passes to Fred, who is on the other team…oh well, good try Hermione! Fred passes to Ginny and she scores the first goal! Potter's team: 10 Charlie's team: 0."

"George, we have a problem," said Hermione.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I can't tell you apart from Fred," she replied.

George pulled out his wand and muttered a spell. His hair turned bright purple.

"Better?" he asked.

"Definitely," she answered through giggles.

"It looks like they've seen the snitch!" exclaimed Lupin. "Charlie is closer to it, but Potter is catching up pretty quick."

_Come on, faster!_ thought Harry as they neared the snitch.

With a sudden burst of speed he passed Charlie and caught the snitch.

Ginny burst out cheering and flew over to give Harry a kiss.

"We won!" exclaimed Ginny.

"Hello?" called Mrs. Weasley. "Is anyone home?"

"Uh, one second mum!" called Ginny.

"Lupin, how do we get back up?" asked Charlie.

"It's a very simple spell," he said, taking out his wand. "_Funis_."

A long rope shot down from the top of the slide. Ginny was the first to reach it and began to climb up out of the tunnel. Everyone quickly followed her and stepped out of the tunnel. Mrs. Weasley walked in moments after Bill, the last person out of the tunnel, climbed out. As soon as he was out, the sink returned to normal.

"Where were all of you?" asked Mrs. Weasley, eyeing the group suspiciously.

"Upstairs," replied Ron, at the exact same moment as Fred said "Outside," and Ginny said "Basement."

"I want the truth. Now," demanded Mrs. Weasley, twirling her wand menacingly.

"It's alright Molly, I was just telling the kids about James' and Lily's wedding," lied Lupin.

"Oh, hello Remus, I didn't see you there," said Molly. "Is this true, children?"

"Uh, yeah," said Ginny.

"Great story, Lupin," added Fred.

Mrs. Weasley raised her eyebrow, but made no comment.

"So, mum, what are we having for dinner?" asked George.

"Hamburgers," she answered. "And why is your hair purple?"

"Oh, um, no reason," said George, quickly changing it back to its usual red with a flick of his wand.

"Have you seen your father?" asked Mrs. Weasley, still watching George with a disbelieving eye.

"No, I think he's still upstairs," replied Bill.

"Will someone go get him for me? I want him to come down for supper since he missed lunch," said Mrs. Weasley.

"We can go," said Ginny, grabbing Harry's hand.

"Hermione and I will come too," said Ron.

The four of them hurried up the stairs together.

"I can't believe Lupin lied to mum!" exclaimed Ginny, once they were a safe distance from Mrs. Weasley.

"I know! I thought she had us for sure!" said Hermione.

"Even Fred and George can't lie to her with a straight face like that," Ron told them.

Hermione knocked on Mr Weasley's bedroom door timidly.

"Mr Weasley, Mrs. Weasley wants you to come downstairs for supper," said Hermione.

Mr Weasley didn't answer. Hermione gave the others a puzzled look.

"Come on dad, supper!" said Ginny. He didn't answer, so she opened the door and burst in.

"Dad, why were you ignoring us?" asked Ron.

"I…what…sorry, were you knocking?" asked Mr Weasley, not tearing his eyes away from the television.

"Mr Weasley, it's time for supper," said Harry, tapping him on the shoulder.

"But…look, the little muggles are playing a game!" exclaimed Mr Weasley. "It's called basketball, and they chase a bouncy orange ball around and try to throw it in the hoop."

"Er, sure dad," said Ginny. "Come on, it's time for supper and we're having hamburgers."

Reluctantly, Mr Weasley got up off his bed and followed the kids downstairs.

* * *

"Arthur, have you been up there all day?" asked Mrs. Weasley when they arrived in the kitchen. "Honestly, I'm going to have to take that silly television away from you if you can't control yourself!"

"But…Molly, no!" exclaimed Mr Weasley, a horrified look on his face. "The muggles were playing sports! There's a bouncy orange ball and a hoop and-"

"I don't care if the muggles dance around on the moon, you are not to be cooped up all day like that!" snapped Mrs. Weasley. "You should be spending time with your children; it's not often that we're all together like this."

"They could watch the muggles with me," suggested Mr Weasley hopefully.

Mrs. Weasley shot him a threatening glare and he quickly busied himself with setting the table.

"Well then, now that's settled," said Mrs. Weasley. "George, you still haven't told me why your hair was purple. I'm waiting."

George choked on the butterbeer he was drinking. He looked around for someone to come up with a good cover-up story, but no one did.

"Er, well, simple explanation really," said George, glancing around nervously.

"Alright, let's hear it," said Mrs. Weasley, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Er, Katie told me she, um, wouldn't date me unless I was more, er, adventurous," he explained. "And I, uh, wanted to impress her, so I figured that purple hair was, er, adventurous."

"You wanted to impress her," she repeated. "While she's not even _here?"_

"I was…practising," he answered lamely.

"Practising turning your hair purple?" she asked, raising her eyebrow at him.

"Er…yeah," he replied, laughing nervously. "Katie likes wild guys."

"We'll finish this discussion after supper," said Mrs. Weasley, sitting down at the table. "Well, sit down and eat!"

Everyone hurried to find a spot at the table. Harry ended up between Ron and Mrs. Weasley.

"Could you please pass the ketchup, Charlie?" asked Harry. Charlie handed it to him from across the table.

"Look at Harry's lovely manners," commented Mrs. Weasley fondly. "He even has his napkin in his lap!"

Fred snorted into his hamburger, which did not go unnoticed by his mother.

"You could certainly do with better manners, Fred," said Mrs. Weasley. "Look at you; you've already got mustard on your nice clean shirt!"

Fred started dabbing at it with a napkin, only succeeding in rubbing it in more. Everyone snickered at him, while Mrs. Weasley clucked disapprovingly.

The rest of supper went by without much excitement while Lupin entertained them with stories of when he was in Hogwarts. For dessert Mrs. Weasley had prepared a wonderful apple pie.

"I'm stuffed," said Ginny as she finished off the last of her pie.

"Why don't you all go sit in the living room or something while I clear away the dishes," suggested Mrs. Weasley.

"I'll help you dear," offered Mr Weasley. Mrs. Weasley smiled and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

Everyone else got up from the table and headed for the living room.

"Lupin, can you show us another secret passage?" asked Ron.

"Oh, I suppose," said Lupin.

* * *

A/N: I guess this is a little bit of a cliffie, and anyway it's after one in the morning so I should probably go to sleep. Please review, reviews are awesome!

Oh, and just for a bit of useless information, the word funis (the spell they used to get out of the secret quidditch pitch) is the Latin word for rope. According to the online translator it is, anyway.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: A REALLY BIG THANK YOU to my reviewers: eighth world wonder, 'DJ'DP'HJ'TF', FroBoy, pakiphai and MeTaMoRpHoSiS gUrL!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Willy Wonka, Nickelback or Theory of a Deadman.

* * *

"Where is it?" asked Ginny eagerly. "Where's the secret passage?"

"Well, I suppose my personal favourite is the one in the library," said Lupin.

"There's a _library?"_ shrieked Hermione, her eyes wide in shock.

"Of course, didn't I show it to you when we got here?" asked Lupin.

Hermione shook her head, almost bouncing with excitement.

"Oh, must've slipped my mind," he replied. "Well, follow me and I'll show you."

Lupin turned and went up the stairs and everyone followed him.

"I thought we already looked at all the rooms," commented Harry.

"This one is hidden behind a portrait, so I guess it's almost a secret passage on its own," said Lupin. "But the library isn't nearly as good as the passage hidden inside it."

They approached a portrait of a very handsome lion with large amber eyes.

Everyone jumped in surprise when Lupin let out a very large "ROAR!"

"It's the password," Lupin explained, with a large grin on his face. "It was Sirius' idea."

The portrait swung forward to reveal a library at least triple the size of the one in Hogwarts. Hermione squealed and rushed over to examine the shelves.

"Look at all these books!" she exclaimed, pulling a few off the nearest shelf. "Here's one on defence against the dark arts, one on goblin wars, one on how to tame dragons…better not let Hagrid see that one. And here's one on transfiguration, one on illegal potions…"

Ron rolled his eyes as Hermione continued to ramble on about all the books. Ginny giggled, and Harry looked away to keep from laughing. Suddenly, Hermione screamed.

"A book on the mistreatment of house-elves!" she screeched. "Oh Harry, can I borrow this one, please?"

"Take as many as you like," he replied. "But can we look at the books _after_ we find the secret passage?"

"Oh, right, sorry," she said, grinning sheepishly. "So, any hints for us, Lupin?"

"Start looking and I'm sure you'll find it," he said. "I'll tell you if anyone gets close."

So all of them started looking around the library. Harry started with the bookshelves at the back of the room. He became interested in a book on the Chudley Cannons, autographed by the whole team, and decided to go show Ron. He was flipping through the pages and not really watching where he was going when he banged into Charlie.

"Sorry Charlie, I wasn't looking where-" but he stopped abruptly as Charlie, who had been pushed into the wall, went right through it.

"Um, Lupin, Charlie sort of, um, fell through the wall," said Harry as Lupin approached him.

"Perfect, you found it!" he said happily. "Go on, it's just like platform 9 ¾."

Harry set the book down on a nearby table and walked through the wall. This passage was just as spectacular as the other.

There were hundreds, maybe thousands of shelves filled with beautiful bright-colored candy. To his right was a large quantity of sugar quills, and to his left was a shelf filled with Bertie Bott's every flavour beans.

"Wow!" exclaimed Ginny.

"This is awesome!" yelled Ron. "Look, they even have some stuff they've stopped making, like rainbow bars!"

"Those things turn your tongue rainbow-colored for five hours," said Fred.

"Haven't these gone bad, though?" asked Hermione. "They've been sitting here for years."

"Nope, luckily James put an anti-spoiling charm on them. These things will be good for centuries," said Lupin. "Go ahead, try some!"

Everyone raced off to find their preferred type of candy. Both Harry and Ginny chose sugar quills.

"Those were your mother's favourite too, Harry," Lupin told them, taking one for himself. "Your father had a strange obsession with Bertie Bott's every flavour beans, especially the toast flavoured ones. I always liked the cinnamon ones, but to each his own."

"Whose idea was it to build this passage?" asked George.

"Lily's," answered Lupin. "She loved sweets; it was always hard to tear her away from Honeydukes whenever we were in Hogsmeade."

"It's just like being in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory!" exclaimed Hermione.

"Who's he?" asked Ron.

"It's my favourite muggle movie," said Hermione. "We can watch it sometime, you'd like it."

"What's it about?" he asked.

"Candy," she answered.

"I'm in," announced Ron.

They stayed in "Candy Heaven" as Ginny had called it, for about ten minutes. Then they left so that Mrs. Weasley wouldn't start worrying about them.

"Lupin, I've got something you should see," said Harry.

"What is it?" asked Lupin.

"You'll see," said Harry, opening his bedroom door. Lupin gasped when he saw James' and Lily's portrait sitting on the floor.

"Moony?" asked James. "Is that really you?"

"Lily, Prongs!" gasped Lupin. "I had no idea you had a portrait!"

"Well, you know this one," said James, jerking his thumb at Lily. "Always prepared for everything."

"And it's a good thing too!" she replied. "It's not like you would have thought to get a portrait made!"

"Fair enough," replied James, running a hand through his hair. "Although it was me who put the anti-spoiling charm on the candy."

"You forgot to put one on the fridge," remarked Lily. "I'm sure they had a great time cleaning out our old food."

"You two are still bickering just as much as before," commented Lupin.

"Some things never change," said Lily. "How have you been?"

"Fine," answered Lupin. "I have a girlfriend now, her name is Tonks."

"Tell us about her," said Lily.

Harry slipped out of the room to give them some privacy and went to find the others. He found them in Ron's room listening to music.

"Hey Harry, how's Lupin doing?" asked Hermione, making room for Harry to sit on the bed with them.

"He seemed pretty good when I left," answered Harry. "What's this song called? It sounds familiar."

"It's Santa Monica," replied Hermione. "It's by Theory of a Deadman."

"I like it," said Ginny. "I think I underestimated muggle music."

"Yeah, what other CD's do you have?" asked Ron.

"Here, choose one," said Hermione, tossing her CD collection to him. Ron began flipping through them.

"Is Nickelback any good?" asked Ron.

"They're my favourite," answered Hermione, taking the CD from Ron and putting it in the CD player. A song called Another Hole in the Head came on. Hermione sang along to it.

"Are there any Order meetings coming up?" asked Ginny.

"There's one tomorrow," said Ron. "But you're not allowed to know anything anyway, so why does it matter?"

"I just wondered where they're having it," said Ginny. "I mean, normally they would have had it at the Burrow."

"We're having it at Kingsley's house," said Ron. "And no, you're not coming."

"So you guys are leaving me alone with Harry?" asked Ginny, a grin spreading across her face.

"No!" said Ron hastily. "I'll ask mum, I'm sure we can get a baby-sitter or something…you're not staying here alone, I don't trust you two."

"Ron, if you make mum get me a baby-sitter you will sorely regret it," she said angrily.

"It doesn't matter what I say to mum, she's not going to let you guys stay here alone anyway," said Ron.

"We'll see," said Ginny. "Either way, you're not to interfere, understand?"

Ron glared angrily and Harry sensed a fight coming.

"So, moving on," said Harry. "Have you thought more about the ball?"

"I think we should have it next week," said Ginny. "That gives us time to decorate and get all the food prepared."

"Who's going to do all the decorating and stuff?" asked Ron.

"All of us," said Ginny. "I already have a few ideas planned, but I need help because I can't use magic yet. Stupid underage rule."

"Harry, can we go back and look at the library now?" asked Hermione. "I never got a chance to look at the books."

"Sure," said Harry.

The four of them went to the library together and Ron gave the password.

"I love this library," said Hermione. "Isn't it great?"

"As far as libraries go, it's pretty good," said Ginny. "At least Madam Pince isn't breathing down our necks."

"Look, they have a whole section devoted to becoming an animagus," said Hermione. "They even left all their notes here; there must be at least thirty pages of them."

"Hey, do you guys think we could…you know, become animagi?" asked Ron.

"No, absolutely not, it's illegal and it's dangerous," said Hermione.

"It could save our lives, Hermione," said Harry softly. "I'm sure it saved Sirius' life a few times."

"All their notes are here too, we wouldn't have to spend nearly as much time as they did on researching," said Ginny.

"Oh, but…if anyone found out, we could go to Azkaban!" exclaimed Hermione. "And besides, you and Harry are still underage."

"There's enough magic going on in this place that the Ministry wouldn't be able to track who did it," said Harry. "Besides, even if they did find out I don't think they would bother doing anything about it. There's a war going on, underage magic is the least of their worries."

"Well, alright," said Hermione. "We can start researching tonight."

"How long do you think this will take?" asked Ginny.

"Until we can completely transform?" asked Hermione. "I'd say about two weeks."

"Two weeks!" exclaimed Ron. "It took Harry's dad three years!"

"I know, but it's the research that makes it take so long, and we've got everything right here in front of us. And you're forgetting that I'm the smartest witch in the year," said Hermione.

"Let's get started then," said Harry, taking _So You Want to be an Animagus_ off the shelf.

* * *

Ten minutes later they had a few pages of their own notes, and Hermione had finished reading through the marauder's notes.

"The first thing we have to do is find our form," Hermione told them.

"How do we do that?" asked Harry.

"There's an easy spell, we can try it right now," said Hermione. "When it's cast on you, you can see your form in your head."

"Let's not tell each other our forms until we transform," suggested Ginny. "It'll add to the suspense."

They agreed that this was a good idea and Hermione got out her wand to do the spell.

"Alright, who's first?" she asked.

"I'll go," said Ron.

"Okay, close your eyes," she instructed. "_Bestia vultus!"_

A minute later Ron grinned and opened his eyes.

"That was so cool!" he exclaimed.

"Can I go next?" asked Ginny.

"Sure," said Hermione. Ginny closed her eyes. _"Bestia vultus!"_

After Ginny saw her form she was very happy.

"That's the best!" she exclaimed. "I wish I could tell you what it is!"

"Can someone cast it on me?" asked Hermione.

"I will," said Ginny.

She cast the spell and a minute later Hermione was smiling. So far, everyone had been happy with their form.

"Okay Harry, you're next. Close your eyes," said Hermione. _"Bestia vultus!"_

* * *

A/N: Ha ha, I'm going to be really evil and leave you with a cliff hanger. Don't worry; I'm going to start writing the next chapter as soon as I post this so it shouldn't be a very long wait. I'm sorry I didn't update for awhile, I had half of this chapter done and then I couldn't think of what else to write. I'd say this animagus thing is pretty good, in my opinion.

Do you like the songs they were listening too? I chose the songs I was listening to as I wrote it. Nickelback is one of my favorite bands, so is Theory of a Deadman.

Again, I used the online Latin translator for the spell (I love that thing!). Bestia vultus means animal facial expression in English. And if it doesn't you can blame the translator.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Linkin Park.

* * *

Harry's mind started whirling. Colors danced around in front of his eyes, and he could partially make out a figure in the middle. His whole body was cold and tingly, and he felt like the room was spinning.

Suddenly, the colors stopped moving around and he could very clearly see a large white Siberian tiger with bright green eyes.

"That is amazing!" exclaimed Harry.

"What do we have to do next?" asked Ron eagerly.

"Research your animal form so you can feel like you know it," said Hermione. "When you feel like you understand that animal it will be easier for you to transform."

"Be one with your form," said Ron, grinning.

"Pretty much, yes," replied Hermione. "The animal section is right here next to the animagus section. And I don't want anyone peeking at anyone else's work; we all agreed to surprise each other with our forms."

Everyone agreed and took a few books off the shelf. Harry took _Large Cats: The Most Beautiful Animals in the World _and _A Look at our Endangered Animal Friends_.

They spent about an hour in the library before realizing that it was getting late, so they took a few books back to their rooms to look at later and then headed downstairs.

"Where have you all been?" asked Mrs. Weasley, as the four of them sat down in the living room with everyone else. "I looked all over for you; I was beginning to get worried."

"We were outside," said Ron.

"We're having a bit of a private discussion right now concerning the Order," said Mrs. Weasley. "If you and Hermione want to you can stay, but we don't have anything new to report so you might find a bit boring."

"I'm tired, I think I'll go to bed," said Hermione.

"Yeah, me too," said Ron. "Harry, Ginny?"

Harry and Ginny agreed and they said their goodnights and went back upstairs to continue studying in their rooms.

"Well, goodnight," said Hermione.

"You're going to sleep?" asked Ron. "I though we were going to do more studying."

"We are, but I'm going straight to sleep afterwards, so I'm saying goodnight now," she answered.

"Oh, good idea," said Ron. "Goodnight everyone."

"Goodnight," said Ginny.

"See you in the morning," replied Harry.

They all retreated to their rooms to study. When Harry got to his room his parents greeted him happily.

"Hi mum and dad," said Harry. "I have something really cool to tell you."

"What is it?" asked James excitedly.

"I'm going to become an animagus," he told them. "So are Ron, Hermione and Ginny. We found all your notes in the library."

"Are you serious?" asked James happily. "That's great!"

"No it isn't, it's dangerous!" said Lily. "It's illegal, you're underage! Besides, it would take years."

"Actually, with dad's notes and Hermione's help we can be done in two weeks," said Harry.

"Wow, it took me three years!" exclaimed James.

"Stop encouraging him," said Lily. "Sweetheart, it's illegal. Why do you want to be ananimagus anyway?"

"I think it would be a huge advantage against Voldemort," said Harry. "And with the war going on the Ministry has enough to deal with without worrying about underage magic and illegal animagi. They'll never notice."

"He's right Lily," said James.

"Well I suppose so," said Lily.

"Do you know what your form is yet?" asked James.

"Yeah, I'm a white Siberian tiger," he answered.

"Now there's a cool animal!" said James. "At least you're not some girly animal like a bunny."

"I've got to study a bit or Hermione will kill me," said Harry.

"Of course Harry," said Lily.

Harry took out a CD player he had found in his closet and started listening to Linkin Park while he studied.

Harry found out that white Siberian tigers like to live on their own, and are endangered. They eat some kinds of deer, and wild pigs and cattle. He learned that these tigers were being poached, and he began to feel quite sad for them. He understood what Hermione meant about getting to know your form. He was already beginning to feel a special connection with his.

He studied for a few more hours until midnight when he decided to go to sleep. He had a nightmare that he was a tiger being poached by a big group of poachers, all of whom looked like Voldemort.

* * *

Harry woke up around six in the morning, still shaken up from his nightmare. He wanted to ask his dad about the nightmare, but his parents were both sleeping peacefully. He decided to go to the library, and was surprised to find Ginny and Hermione already there.

"Nightmare?" asked Ginny as he approached them.

"Yeah, you guys too?" asked Harry.

"It was awful," said Hermione. "I was trapped in a cage that was really small with no food or water."

"I was being hunted by Voldemort," said Harry.

"That sounds terrible," said Ginny. "I was being chased around by an animal that wanted to eat me."

"Does it say anything about nightmares in the notes?" asked Harry.

"I don't remember, I'll check," said Hermione, grabbing the stack of notes from beside her.

"Do you like your form?" asked Ginny.

"Yeah, do you like yours?" asked Harry

"I do, it's really great," she answered. "I can't wait to be able to transform."

"Me either," said Harry.

"Here, I found it!" said Hermione. "They say that as soon as you can fully sympathize with your form you will have a nightmare where you are that animal. You only get one though, so we're okay now."

"Hey guys," said Ron, trudging into the room in pyjamas like everyone else.

"Did you have a nightmare about your form?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah, how did you know?" asked Ron.

"It means we're all ready for the next step," said Hermione.

"What's the next step?" asked Ginny.

"We have to brew a potion," she answered. "It's not a very difficult potion; I think the hardest thing will be getting all the ingredients."

"There must be a potions lab in here somewhere," said Harry. "We should ask Lupin about it."

"You should ask him, Hermione," said Ginny.

"Why me?" she asked.

"You can pretend it's for homework or something," said Ginny. "If all of us ask him it will look suspicious."

"That's true," she said. "Alright, I'll ask him the next time I see him."

"Is there anything we can do until then?" asked Harry.

"Not really," said Hermione. "He said he'd stop by today for lunch though, so I'll ask him then."

"What do you want to do until then?" asked Ron.

"We should start preparing for the ball," answered Ginny. "Now that Harry and I are doing underage magic anyway we can start with the decorations I planned."

* * *

It was very quiet in the ballroom. Everyone was still asleep, so they had tiptoed downstairs to start decorating.

"I want the walls to look like they're on fire, but I don't want it to burn the walls or anything," said Ginny. "There's a spell for that, right?"

"The ornamental fire spell," said Hermione. "I know how to do that."

"How long will the flames last?" asked Ron.

"Usually around three weeks unless you do the reversal spell," said Hermione. "Do you want me to show you?"

"Sure!" said Ginny excitedly.

"_Aduro!"_ exclaimed Hermione. The room was instantly engulfed in flames.

"Will they burn us?" asked Harry.

"No, go ahead and touch it," she replied, reaching her hand into the fire.

The other three followed her lead. All they felt was a wonderfully warm feeling.

"That's great!" said Ginny. "We should leave it like that for the ball."

They conjured up tables to put the food on and set those on fire too. They also conjured up about twenty chairs and put a non-melting ice charm on them so that the chairs looked like they were made of solid ice.

"This is so weird!" said Ron, sitting on one of the ice chairs. "It's not cold or wet or anything!"

"We should probably go to the kitchen now, people are probably waking up," said Hermione.

There was no one in the kitchen, so they sat down at the table.

"I'm hungry," whined Ron.

"Me too," moaned Ginny.

"I canmake breakfast if you want," said Harry. "What would you like?"

"French toast," said Ron. "I didn't know you could cook."

"I always cooked for the Dursleys," said Harry. "I've been cooking since I was old enough to reach the stove."

"I can't cook at all," said Ginny. "It drives mum mad because she says I'll never be a good wife."

"I can cook a little bit," said Hermione. "I've made grilled cheese sandwiches and stuff. I do some baking too."

Harry made enough breakfast for the whole family, and soon people started to come into the kitchen.

"My goodness, who cooked breakfast?" asked Mrs. Weasley, as Ron passed her a plate of French toast.

"Harry did," said Ginny.

"Oh Harry, you didn't need to do that," she said. "Though I must say, these are delicious."

"Cool, French toast!" said Fred, grabbing a plate and shovelling food into his mouth.

"Harry made it," said Mrs. Weasley.

"It's good," said Fred.

Everyone was amazed that Harry was such a good cook. They all managed seconds and also enjoyed the fresh-squeezed orange juice he had made.

* * *

After breakfast Lupin came over to visit them.

"Remus, I didn't think you'd be here until noon!" said Mrs. Weasley.

"I decided to pop in early to see if I could talk to James' and Lily's portrait again," said Lupin. "Would you mind, Harry?"

"Not at all, go right ahead," said Harry.

"So, how have you been?" asked Mr Weasley. "How is Tonks?"

"Both of us are fine," replied Lupin, smiling. "And how have you been?"

"Oh, all of us are fine," said Mr Weasley.

"Lupin, do you know if there's a potions lab here?" asked Hermione.

"Yes, would you like me to show it to you?" he asked.

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble," said Hermione.

"Come with me then," said Lupin.

The two of them went upstairs. The other three resisted the urge to follow them and instead helped clear the breakfast dishes.

A few minutes later Hermione and Lupin came back downstairs together.

"Do you guys want to see it?" asked Hermione.

"Sure," said Ginny, and the four of them went upstairs.

"It's really convenient because it' hidden inside the library," said Hermione. "This is great because now we can go back and forth between the library and the lab without anyone noticing."

They entered the library and Hermione led them over to a corner in the back.

"You have to put your right hand on the wall and say 'snivellus is an ugly git'," instructed Hermione. "Apparently it was James' idea."

They all grinned, put their right hands on the wall and said "Snivellus is an ugly git!"

They sank through the wall and found themselves in a small dark room lit by everlasting candles. There were cabinets full of ingredients and a few gold cauldrons stacked nearby.

"Why are potions labs always so dark?" asked Ron irritably, as he bumped into a small desk.

"Sunlight damages potions ingredients," explained Hermione, taking a few ingredients out of the cabinets. "I thinkwe have everything now, can someone grab a cauldron?"

Harry took a cauldron from the stack and they went back into the library. Ginny brought over the book with the potion in it and read the instructions to Hermione.

"Add some dried newt and stir clockwise three times," said Ginny. "The next thing is kind of weird. We need tears from all four of us."

"Tears?" said Ron. "You mean we have to cry?"

"Yeah, that's what it says," she told them.

They all leaned over the cauldron and pinched themselves until they cried.

"What's next?" asked Hermione, wiping tears from her eyes.

"A drop of sphinx blood," said Ginny. "Stir counter-clockwise five times."

"Is that it?" she asked.

"Yup, that's it," she replied.

"Is it the right color?" asked Hermione. "I haven't seen too many magenta colored potions."

"It looks exactly the same as the one in the book," said Ginny.

"When can we take it?" asked Ron.

"Right now," said Ginny.

They each poured themselves a small glass and exchanged nervous looks.

"Alright, on three," said Harry. "One…two…three."

It tasted sort of like bananas.

"That's not so bad," said Ron.

"Um guys?" said Ginny. "Look at your skin."

All of them had big purple blotches all over their skin.

"Oh great, what do we do now?" asked Harry.

"I don't know," said Hermione, beginning to panic. "How long do these last?"

Ginny read through the instructions of the potion again. "It doesn't say!"

"I'll check the marauder's notes," said Ron, grabbing them from the table next to him.

"What if they're permanent?" said Ginny.

"Wait, it says here the last twelve hours," said Ron. "What time is it?"

"10:30 am," said Harry.

"The Order meeting is at seven, we'll have to stay home," said Hermione.

"What do we do until then?" asked Ron.

"Well, I have an idea, but you and Harry won't like it," said Ginny.

"What is it?" asked Harry.

"Liquid foundation," said Ginny.

"What's that?" asked Ron.

"Make-up," said Hermione.

Both boys exchanged fearful glances.

"Come on, it's in my room," said Ginny.

* * *

A few minutes later the blotches were still a bit visible, but they definitely looked better.

"We should fake sick all day and stay in bed," said Ron. "There's a lot less chance of anyone noticing that way."

"What should we be sick with?" asked Harry.

"Hermione and I can say we have cramps," said Ginny.

"Gross," said Ron.

"I can say my scar is hurting," said Harry.

"I'll say I have a stomach-ache," said Ron.

"Alright, back to bed then I guess," said Hermione.

All of them headed to their rooms and tried to fall asleep. None of them were tired though, since it was midmorning.

"Good morning Harry," said Lily, as Harry got back into bed. "Why are you going back to bed?"

"I got purple blotches all over me from the potion," said Harry.

"They don't last that long," said James. "And I can barely see yours."

"Ginny made us put on make-up," said Harry. "I've got to fake sick so Mrs. Weasley doesn't find out about the potion."

"Okay, we'll let you sleep then," said Lily.

Harry tossed and turned for about an hour until Mrs. Weasley came to check on him.

"Hermione told me your scar hurt, is everything alright?" she asked.

"I'm alright, I've just got a bit of a headache now," he told her.

"I brought you up some lunch," said Mrs. Weasley. "Chicken soup and homemade bread."

"Thank you very much, Mrs. Weasley," said Harry.

"You call me if you need anything, okay?" said Mrs. Weasley, stepping out into the hall and closing the door behind her.

Harry ate his soup and bread, feeling guilty that Mrs. Weasley was waiting on him even though he wasn't really sick.

* * *

A/N: I know this isn't the best ending, but this is my longest chapter ever and I really want to get it posted. Please review! 


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: To my wonderful super fantastic awesome reviewers: Hazel Maraa, RoxyLo, pakiphai, SleepyHead22 (you're right about the rated T thing, I guess it's mostly just in case I want to put some rated T stuff in later chapters) , FroBoy and MeTaMoRpHoSiS gUrL THANK YOU! Please keep reviewing!

Sorry for the long wait, I had no idea where to go with this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or "Let Me Love You" by Mario. Duh.

* * *

After the adults had left for the meeting Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione met in the library.

"The spots are almost gone now," said Ginny.

"What was that potion for, anyway?" asked Ron.

"It prepares your body for your form," said Hermione. "The potion makes you be able to change without damaging any of your body parts."

"What do we have to do next?" asked Harry.

"We have to start the transformation," answered Hermione. "Not our whole body, we just start with our arms and legs."

"How?" asked Ron.

"It's sort of like throwing off the imperius curse," replied Hermione. "You have to use your mind. Just picture yourself turning into you form."

"Who wants to go first?" asked Ginny.

"I will," said Hermione.

She shut her eyes and bit her lip in concentration. About ten seconds later her arms were replaced by graceful white wings. They didn't look like they belonged to a small bird, but they didn't look like owl wings either.

A few seconds later her arms were back to normal.

"That was exhausting," said Hermione.

"What kind of bird are you?" asked Ginny.

"You'll have to wait and see," replied Hermione. "Who's next?"

"I'll go," said Ron.

After nearly a minute he still hadn't transformed.

"Why isn't it working?" he asked angrily.

"You have to believe you can do it, Ron," said Hermione. "We all know you can do it, you just have to believe in yourself. Try again."

Ron screwed up his face in concentration and after a few seconds he had small sleek black legs. They looked quite comical on his human body. He was standing on all fours to keep from falling over.

"You're a black cat!" said Ginny.

Ron returned to his normal self and grinned.

"That was great, Ron," said Harry.

"I didn't know you liked cats!" said Hermione. "You've never liked Crookshanks."

"I like black cats," said Ron. "They're just kind of…cool."

"Do you want to go next, Harry?" asked Ginny.

"Alright," he said, closing his eyes.

Almost immediately his arms were replaced by white legs with black stripes. They felt normal and he had complete control of them. After a few seconds he changed them back into his usual arms.

"Wow, you're a tiger!" said Ron. "A white one!"

"That's so cool," said Ginny. "My turn!"

Ginny's arms were replaced by short red and black legs. She kept them like that for a few seconds then changed back.

"Are you a cat too?" asked Hermione.

"No, couldn't you tell what I was?" she asked.

They all shook their heads and Ginny grinned.

"Guess you'll have to wait and see then," she said.

* * *

A week later it was time for the ball. They had sent out the invitations and their guests were arriving in two hours. Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione were in the kitchen preparing the food. They had spent the last week working on their transformations and would be finished in a day or two. Still, no one had figured out what Ginny and Hermione were.

"So we have chips, pigs in blankets, punch, hummus and pita bread, pizza and chocolate fondue with strawberries," said Ginny. "Do you think it will be enough?"

"I'm sure it will be," said Hermione. "Does this punch taste alright?"

Harry took a sip of punch. "It needs more sugar."

"Ron stop eating the fondue!" said Ginny. "We need to save some for the guests!"

Ron popped one last strawberry in his mouth and continued slicing up the pizza.

"Is the punch better now?" asked Hermione.

Harry tried it again and smiled. "Perfect."

"Okay, I think all the food is done, I'm going upstairs to get ready," announced Hermione.

"Me too," said Ginny.

The girls went upstairs to get ready and the boys decided to do the same.

* * *

"I wish I had a second set of dress robes, Harry has already seen me in these," said Ginny.

"I wish I did too," said Hermione. "But where are we going to find new dress robes in less than two hours?"

Both sets of eyes fell on the antique wardrobe with the name Lily carved onto it.

* * *

Ron and Harry were ready in about ten minutes and didn't know what to do with their remaining time. Bill and Charlie had put all the food in the ball room and there wasn't any last-minute work left to be done.

"What do you want to do?" asked Harry.

"Wizard's chess?" suggested Ron.

Harry nodded and they set up the game.

* * *

"Do you think Harry would let us use Lily's clothes?" asked Hermione.

"He told me I could use anything in here, I guess that includes clothes," said Ginny, opening the doors of the wardrobe.

Both girls' jaws dropped. There were at least fifty beautiful dress robes stuffed into the mahogany wardrobe.

"Oh my gosh, where do we start?" said Hermione.

"I guess we start at the beginning," said Ginny, taking a few sets of robes out. "Start looking through them."

They found robes of every color, even a set of tie-dye robes. Finally, after an hour of searching, both girls had selected a set of dress robes.

Hermione had chosen lovely pale pink robes with gold detail around the neckline. They were long and flowy and made of chiffon. She had gold high heels to match and had a crown of fresh white flowers.

Ginny favoured a set of coral robes that were off the shoulder and made of fine silk. She wore delicate white sandals with a two inch heel. With her diamond necklace that had been her grandmother's around her neck she felt very fancy. Her hair was in loose curls that framed her face perfectly.

"We still have half an hour," said Ginny. "What should we do?"

"We could go see Harry's parents, since the boys are in Ron's room," said Hermione.

"How do you know that?" asked Ginny.

"Because Harry's room is right next to us, we would hear them if they were in there," answered Hermione logically.

The girls went through the door connecting Harry's room to Ginny's and stood in front of the portrait.

"Oh my goodness, are those my old robes?" asked Lily.

"Yes, do you mind if we wear them?" asked Hermione.

"Not at all, you girls look lovely," she replied. "Is everything ready for the ball?"

"I think so," said Ginny. "We've got the food and decorations done."

"What about music?" inquired James.

"Charlie is the DJ, but we should probably go tell him what music to play," said Hermione. "Come on, Ginny."

"See you later!" called Ginny, as Hermione dragged her out the door.

* * *

"Alright, so we want songs from these CD's," Ginny told Charlie, dumping Hermione's entire CD collection onto a table. "And make sure there are a few slow songs."

"How long is the ball?" asked Charlie.

"It'll probably last a few hours," answered Hermione.

The doorbell rang and the girls raced to answer it.

"Hi Ginny, hi Hermione," said Neville, Luna clutching his arm.

"Hi, come on in," said Ginny, ushering them inside.

"You look lovely, Luna," said Hermione.

"Thank you," smiled Luna. "So do you two."

Harry and Ron came downstairs to see who had arrived. When they caught sight of Ginny and Hermione their jaws dropped.

"Ginny, you look beautiful," said Harry, taking her hands in his. "So do you, Hermione."

"Hermione, you look great!" exclaimed Ron as Hermione blushed.

"Harry, these are your mother's robes," said Ginny. "Do you mind if we wear them?"

"Not at all, they look lovely on you," he replied.

Pretty soon all their guests had arrived, including Dean, Parvati, Seamus, Lavender, Colin and Dennis Creevey, Katie Bell, Oliver Wood, Alicia Spinnet and Angelina Johnson. Remus and Tonks also came, and Tonks turned her hair platinum blonde for the occasion.

Bill brought Fleur as his date, and she looked as though she'd spent hours on her hair, which was curled and twisted into a fancy updo. Fred came with Angelina and George came with Katie. Both Fred and George arrived in robes of shocking violet.

The first song was "Let Me Love You" by Mario. Ginny smiled. This was her and Harry's song. It was also Ron and Hermione's.

Both couples started dancing, earning sniggers from the other Weasley boys.

"This is going pretty good, don't you think?" said Ginny.

"Yeah, it's good," said Harry.

"Your birthday is next week," Ginny reminded him.

"I know," replied Harry.

"What do you want for your birthday?" she asked.

"Oh, you don't have to-"

"Harry James Potter don't you dare tell me not to get you anything. I'm getting something and that's final," she told him sternly. "I may not be rich, but I get birthday presents for the people I love. So what do you want?"

"Anything you pick out will fine, Gin," answered Harry. "You have better taste than I do anyway."

"You are so not helpful," groaned Ginny, rolling her eyes at him. "You know, my birthdays coming up too."

"August eleventh, I know," said Harry, grinning. "I haven't forgotten. So what do you want?"

"Oh no, I'm not helping you Mr Potter, you'll have to figure this one out on your own," laughed Ginny.

The song ended and they went over to join Hermione and Ron.

"This place is packed!" exclaimed Ron.

"It's awesome, I haven't seen some of these people in ages," said Ginny.

"Do you guys feel kind of funny?" asked Hermione. "I don't really feel great."

"Well, now that you mention it…" said Ron.

"Yeah, I'm not feeling so hot myself," said Ginny.

"Me either," said Harry. "Do you think it could have something to do with, you know, the animagus thing?"

Hermione opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off when she suddenly turned into a white parrot.

"Hermione!" screamed Ginny, and several people stared at her.

"Keep your voice down!" whispered Ron, allowing Hermione, in parrot form, to sit on his shoulder. "Come on, we'd better get upstairs."

The four of them snuck out of the ballroom and headed to the library. As soon as they got there Ginny grabbed the notes and started flipping through them furiously.

"I can't believe we missed this!" exclaimed Ginny.

"What?" chorused Harry and Ron.

"When our transformation is complete we will turn into our form and be stuck like that for twenty four hours!" she told them.

"But Hermione said we wouldn't be done until tomorrow!" said Harry.

"Well I guess she was wrong then!" said Ginny. "What are we going to do?"

"I'll go get Bill, he'll know what to do," said Ron.

"Hurry, before you transform!" Ginny called as he slipped out of the room.

Hermione began to fly around the room nervously, and then landed on Ginny's shoulder.

"I wonder why she turned into a parrot," said Harry. "I didn't even know she liked birds."

"I don't know either, I think we have more important things to worry about at the moment," said Ginny.

They sat in silence until Bill and Ron entered the room.

"Is he serious? Are you really becoming animagus?" asked Bill.

"Yes, and we're going to be stuck as animals for twenty four hours!" exclaimed Ginny.

"I know, Ron told me," he said. "Is that Hermione?"

Hermione squawked and flapped her wings.

"That is so cool!" he said.

Ron got a funny look on his face, and a moment later a black cat stood in his place.

"Oh no, not you too!" said Ginny, as Ron jumped up on the table.

"What am I supposed to tell all your guests?" asked Bill.

"Just tell them we got sick or something," said Ginny.

"Mum isn't going to leave you alone if she thinks you're sick," said Bill.

"Tell them we got an urgent letter from someone," suggested Harry.

"Who?" asked Ginny. "Dumbledore?"

"No, they might ask him about it," said Bill.

"My aunt and uncle," said Harry.

"What?" shouted Ginny.

"We can say they…I don't know, invited us over so they could apologize or something," said Harry.

"No one would believe it," said Bill. "I'll figure out what to tell them later, let's concentrate on what we're going to do with you for a whole day."

"We can hide in here," said Ginny. "But you'll be in charge of bringing us food, so don't forget us."

They turned to look at Harry and saw a white tiger with bright green eyes staring at them. A few seconds later Ginny transformed into a beautiful red fox.

Harry let out a loud roar of surprise when he heard voices in his head.

"Calm down Harry, it's just us!" Harry heard Hermione say in his brain. (A/N: All of their voices are in their heads now until they become people again.)

"This is so creepy," said Ron. "Wow, look at my tail!"

Harry, Ginny, Hermione and Bill watched Ron as he chased his tail pathetically.

"Ron, cats don't even chase their tails," said Ginny.

Ron stopped and surely would have been blushing if he wasn't a cat.

"What am I going to do with all of you?" said Bill. "Can you guys communicate with each other?"

Harry nodded his large tiger head.

"Any ideas as to what I can tell your guests?" asked Bill.

All four animals shook their heads.

Bill sighed. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

A/N: Okay, I wanted to make this longer, but I'm going to post it as it is since I haven't updated in so long. Expect another chapter soon. Really soon, I seriouslypromise this time! 


	13. Chapter 13

Thank you to my super reviewers: Hazel Maraa, Hermione'sHat and MeTaMoRpHoSiS gUrL.

And of course, a super thank you goes out to jeevesandwooster, who is back at last!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

A/N: I'm really really sorry I haven't updated like I promised I would. I just started high school and it's taking up much more of my time than I expected. I can't promise that my updates will be too frequent, but I'll try my best. I might try to do more frequent updates, but shorter chapters.

Anyway, I'll stop stalling and let you read now. Thank you for listening to me ramble.

* * *

Bill paced and ran his hands through his long red hair. Ginny (they're still in animal form) rubbed against his feet comfortingly.

"Have you told Lupin about this?" asked Bill.

Ron shook his head.

"Okay, can I tell him?" he asked.

"What if Lupin tells mum?" asked Ginny (in her head, obviously. Bill can't hear them).

"He probably won't, he's lied for us before," Harry pointed out.

"We should let him tell Lupin," said Hermione. "What have we got to lose?"

"Honestly Hermione, 'What have we got to lose?'" said Ron. "The coolest secret ever, that's what!"

"Well Bill knows, so it's not a secret, is it?" said Hermione.

"Look, we'll let him tell Lupin, okay?" said Ginny.

"Alright," said Ron.

Hermione squawked and nodded to Bill.

"Okay, I'll bring him up here," said Bill. "You guys wait here."

* * *

"Okay, first things first," said Lupin. "We have to tell your guests something."

"Maybe they won't notice anything," said Bill.

"What if someone asks about them?" asked Lupin.

"We can pretend we're busy and rush off," said Bill. "Best thing we've thought of so far."

"Alright, good enough," said Lupin.

Suddenly Fred and George came in through the wall that led to Candy Heaven, each with a bar of honeydukes chocolate.

"How long have you guys been in there?" asked Bill.

"I don't know, an hour or so," said Fred.

"What about Angelina and Katie?" asked Lupin.

"They had to leave, quidditch practise, you know," replied George. "They both play for the Appleby Arrows."

"Why do you guys have a tiger in here?" asked Fred.

"That's Harry," said Bill.

"Blimey, are those four animagus?" asked George.

"Yup, Ginny is the fox, Hermione's the parrot and-"

"Ron's a cat!" exclaimed George. "Ha!"

Fred picked up Ron and started throwing him in the air and catching him.

"Fred, don't drop him!" warned Bill, as Ron hissed and tried to scratch Fred.

"Why doesn't he just transform?" asked George.

"He can't. They're stuck like this for twenty four hours," said Lupin.

"No kidding! Blimey, we could have fun with this," said Fred, grinning at four very scared looking animals.

"Put Ron down and step away," ordered Bill.

The twin put their hands in the air and took three steps back, still grinning evilly. Ron dropped to the floor and hissed.

* * *

"Are all the kids gone?" asked Mr Weasley.

"Yes, the last ones left a few minutes ago," answered Mrs. Weasley. "Have you seen Harry, Ron, Hermione or Ginny lately? It was their party, and I haven't seen them for a couple hours."

"I haven't seen them either, Molly," said Mr Weasley. "It's getting pretty late though; they should be getting into bed."

"I'll go look for them," she said.

* * *

"What are we going to tell mum and dad?" asked Fred.

"I'll tell them they went home with Tonks, she left earlier," said Lupin. "I'll say they're sleeping over. I'll do that now and then I'd better get home. See you guys tomorrow."

"Later Remus," said Bill.

"Bill, what are we going to do with these guys for the night?" asked George. "We could probably sneak Hermione, Ron and Ginny into their rooms, but Harry might attract a bit of attention."

"Well we can try," said Bill. "You two get those three into their rooms, I'll handle Harry."

The twins left with Hermione, Ron and Ginny; Fred was throwing Ron in the air again.

* * *

"Okay Harry, if you hear anyone coming, play dead," instructed Bill, leading Harry into the hallway.

They got about ten feet away from the door when they heard footsteps coming around the corner. Harry dropped onto the floor and lay motionless.

"Bill, what on earth is that?" asked Mrs. Weasley, pointing at Harry.

"It's a stuffed animal," lied Bill. "It's a present for Fleur."

"It looks pretty real," commented Mrs. Weasley, poking Harry uncomfortably in the ribs.

"Yeah, well, goodnight," said Bill, giving his mother a hug and herding her toward her room.

Mrs. Weasley eyed him suspiciously before disappearing into her bedroom.

"Quick, go!" urged Bill, dragging Harry into his room.

Once they were safely in Harry's room Bill locked the door and Harry jumped onto his bed.

"Okay Harry, stay here. Don't get up for anything. I'll be back for you in the morning," Bill told him, taking out his wand and conjuring up a bowl of cereal and a glass of pumpkin juice for him. Bill was so preoccupied he didn't really realize how difficult it would be for a tiger to drink out of a glass.

They heard a loud thud and a growl coming from Ginny's room. Bill opened the door connecting the two rooms and stuck his head into her room.

"What's going on?" he asked, glaring at Fred, who had a startled expression on his face. "Were you throwing her around?"

"Possibly," said Fred.

"Did you drop her, by chance?" asked Bill.

"It's a possibility," he replied with a testy grin on his face.

"Fred, stop doing that!" exclaimed Bill angrily. Clearly the stress of the situation was getting to him. "I mean it!"

Harry growled softly to add that he didn't want Fred tossing Ginny around either.

"But it's so much fun!" he argued. "She can't fight back or anything."

Bill frowned and snatched Ginny out of Fred's hands.

"What? Where are you taking her?" he asked.

"I'm putting her in Hermione's room," answered Bill. "And don't you dare follow us. Harry, go to bed, okay?"

Harry nodded and went back into his room. He curled up on the floor and was asleep within seconds.

* * *

A/N: I know it's short, but I really feel like I should update, even if it means not doing as much as usual. I'm not really that happy with this chapter, but I've been working on it off and on for months now and I don't really know what else I could write in place of this. I can't promise the next chapter will be out soon (ha, you know how good I am at keeping those promises) but I _do_ promise it will be better than this one! 


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: As always, I am sorry for the long wait. I had chapter 14 all done, but then I decided I didn't really like it so I started over and did this, which is completely different from the original version. The original was depressing, but I think this is a lot happier. Happy New Year!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

* * *

The next evening, Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny marched downstairs in their human form. Mrs. Weasley was in the kitchen making supper.

"Hello dears, how was your night at Lupin and Tonks' house?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

"Fine," lied Hermione.

"What are you making for supper?" asked Ron, taking a handful of croutons out of the salad.

Mrs. Weasley shooed him away from the large bowl of salad. "Chicken casserole and tossed salad."

"Anything for dessert?" asked Ginny, peering in the oven.

"Banana cream pie, Ginny," she answered, smiling. "Your favourite."

"Why don't you ever make blueberry pie?" said Ron. "I hate banana cream pie."

"You don't hate it, you had three pieces last time," said Ginny.

"That was just to be polite!" he answered, the tips of his ears turning pink.

Hermione and Ginny rolled their eyes.

That night at supper Ron had just one piece of pie.

* * *

It was late at night and Ron and Harry were in the library. Hermione and Ginny had decided to go to bed early.

"I can't believe Hermione already finished all her homework!" exclaimed Ron, slamming his transfiguration book shut in frustration. "I've still got all my potions, charms and herbology left!"

"Do you know who invented the babbling curse?" asked Harry.

"No idea," said Ron. "Did you finish your potions essay yet?"

"No, I haven't even started," said Harry.

Ron sighed and got another stack of books off the nearest shelf.

Fred and George entered the library and hurried over to see Harry and Ron.

"How did you guys learn how to be animagus?" asked George.

"We found my dad's notes in here," said Harry. "And then Hermione basically figured out the rest."

"Will you teach us?" asked Fred. "Please?"

"Aren't you two old enough to become legal animagi anyway?" asked Harry.

"Well that wouldn't be any fun," said Fred.

"Then the ministry would know what we're up to," said George.

"We'll give you all the stuff you want from our store free," said Fred. "If you'll teach us how to be animagi."

"Please?" added George.

"Okay," said Harry. "But we'll have to talk to Hermione first. She's probably the best teacher."

"Let us know," said Fred, as he and George left.

* * *

"_They_ want to be animagus too?" exclaimed Ginny.

It was the next morning, two days before Harry's birthday, and Ginny, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred and George were in the library again.

"And I thought we were done with all that," said Hermione, taking a chocolate frog from Ron.

"Please?" asked Fred. "It would be really helpful."

"It would be good to have some more animagi in the war," said Harry. "It's an advantage against Voldemort, that's for sure."

Hermione sighed. "Alright you two, come over here."

Fred and George stood in front of her looking eager.

"I'm going to say '_bestia vultus' _and then you're going to see your form in your head. Okay?"

George closed his eyes and Hermione pointed her wand at him. _"Bestia vultus!"_

"I'm a lion!" exclaimed George, looking shocked.

"That's so cool!" exclaimed Ginny.

"At least I won't be the only big animal anymore," said Harry.

"Okay Fred, close your eyes," instructed Hermione. _"Bestia vultus!"_

"I'm an owl," said Fred. "A barn owl!"

"Aw!" said Hermione.

"This is going to be great!" said Fred. "What's the next step?"

"You have to research your animal until you feel a connection with it," said Hermione, taking a large stack of books off a shelf.

"Research?" said Fred. "During summer vacation!"

"Yes," said Hermione, handing him a book. "Here, try _A History of the World'sOwls._"

"Tell us when you get nightmares about being your animal," said Harry. "It means you're ready for the next step."

"But you have to study first," said Hermione firmly. "It won't work unless you study."

* * *

Apparently Fred and George were very serious about becoming animagi, because they studied for the rest of the day and got their nightmares that night.

"We got our nightmares!" said George the next morning at breakfast.

Mrs. Weasley gave him a funny look. "What nightmares?"

"Nothing, Mum," said Fred. Then he turned and whispered to Hermione: "What's next?"

"Not now," whispered Hermione, looking pointedly at Mrs. Weasley, who was still watching them suspiciously. "Meet me in the library after breakfast."

* * *

After breakfast, while Hermione was brewing the potion with the twins, Harry, Ron and Ginny decided to look for more secret passages.

"Maybe there's one in my room," said Harry.

The three of them ran upstairs to Harry's room to search.

"Hi Harry," said Lily. "What are you three doing up here?"

"We want to see if there's a secret passage in here," answered Harry. "Is there?"

Lily smiled. "Yes, there's one somewhere in here."

"Can we have a hint?" asked Ron.

James shook his head. "That would ruin all the fun!"

Ron started looking in the closet, Ginny searched the walls, and Harry checked the floorboards.

"Well, I don't think there are any passages in the walls," said Ginny. "Unless I need a password to get in."

"No, there isn't a password," said Lily.

Harry found a loose floorboard under the bad and pulled it open. Instantly, the hole became large enough for a person to fit through.

"What's in it?" asked Ginny.

"It's not as impressive as the others," said James.

"But it is cozy," Lily told them. "Go on."

The three of them slid down into the room. As soon as the last person, Ron, was down, the slide turned into a ladder. The room was completely dark, so Ginny lit her wand.

The room was just like the Gryffindor common room, except it also had a foosball table, a big screen TV, and a small kitchen. It was sort of like a mini apartment.

"This is great," said Ginny, turning on the TV.

"Yeah, but it's kind of boring," said Ron. "Want to go see if Hermione and the twins are done?"

"Okay," said Harry, and the three of them climbed out of the room.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Nope, I didn't abandon this! Sorry for the VERY long wait though.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

* * *

Harry, Ron and Ginny ran into Hermione, Fred and George as they were just leaving the library. Fred and George had the familiar purple blotches all over them.

"So, what's next?" asked George.

"You have to wait for the purple spots to go away," said Harry. "They'll be gone in twelve hours."

"But what about after that?" asked Fred.

"After that, you get to start your transformation," answered Ginny.

"But you only transform your arms and legs at first," said Ron.

"Can we start that after supper?" asked Fred.

"I guess so," replied Hermione. "Come find us when your spots go away."

Hermione, Ron, Harry and Ginny decided to visit Lupin and Tonks. They traveled by floo, after a long lecture from Mrs. Weasley.

"Now be _careful_," she warned them. "Don't get off at the wrong place, and if anything happens come straight back here. Don't get in any trouble-"

"-And don't talk to strangers," said Ron. "We _know_, Mum. We've traveled by floo before, you know."

"Well that was different," she said. "It wasn't so dangerous then. Especially for Harry. Maybe you shouldn't go…"

"We'll be careful, Mrs. Weasley, don't worry," said Harry.

Mrs. Weasley nodded and handed them the floo powder.

* * *

"Wotcher," said Tonks, as the four stepped out of the fireplace.

"Hi Tonks," said Ginny, picking herself up off the floor. "What are you two up to?"

"Not too much," she answered. "Remus! Harry and his friends are here."

Remus walked into the room looking happily surprised. "Hey guys! What have you been doing today?"

"Well, mostly we've been helping Fred and George become animagus," said Harry.

"_More_ illegal animagi?" exclaimed Lupin. "You do realize this is against the law, don't you?"

"It could really help us in the war," explained Hermione.

"Are you sure they can handle all the work?" asked Tonks. "It's supposed to be quite difficult."

"They've been working pretty hard," said Hermione. "I was very surprised, actually."

"Are you guys coming over for supper tonight?" asked Harry.

"We're having macaroni and cheese," added Ron.

"We'll be there," said Lupin, giving Tonks a special smile. She winked back.

Harry wondered what that was about, but decided not to ask.

"Anyone want a game of chess?" asked Tonks.

"Sure," replied Ron.

They spent the rest of the afternoon playing chess and talking. Hermione and Lupin were deep in discussion about Hermione's plans for after Hogwarts.

"I still can't decide between teaching and working for the Ministry," said Hermione. "I don't agree with everything the Ministry does, but it's good to have people from the Order there to keep an eye on things."

"We have a lot of people keeping an eye on the Ministry at the moment," said Lupin. "I think you should do whatever you enjoy the most."

"I really do enjoy school, and I think teaching would be a very rewarding career," said Hermione. "Professor McGonagall told me that if I wanted to be the transfiguration teacher after her she would make sure I get the job."

Meanwhile, Ron and Tonks were on their third game of chess. Ron had beaten her twice, but she was determined to beat him.

"Who do you think is going to win?" asked Ginny.

"Ron, obviously," answered Harry. "He's got good strategies."

"Thanks for all the support, Harry," said Tonks sarcastically.

Ginny looked at her watch. "It's almost supper time, we should be heading back. Are you guys coming with us?"

"We'll be along in a few minutes," said Lupin.

* * *

"I'm so glad you're back!" exclaimed Mrs. Weasley, pulling them into a big hug as they stepped out of the fireplace. "I've been so worried!"

"Mum, we're fine," said Ron.

"I know, I know…" she said, letting go of them.

"Lupin and Tonks are coming for supper," said Harry. "They said they'd be here in a few minutes."

"Okay. You and Ron can set the table," said Mrs. Weasley. "Hermione and Ginny, you two can make a salad."

After they finished getting supper ready Remus and Tonks arrived.

"Hey everyone," said Tonks, as she tripped over a chair.

Remus helped her up. "Do you need any help with supper, Molly?"

"No, I think everything is ready," she replied. "Ron, can you go get your brothers?"

Ron nodded and headed upstairs. He returned with Bill, Charlie and the twins. The twins were wearing big sweatshirts with the hoods pulled up over their heads to hide their spots.

"Why are youwearing such heavy clothes?" asked Mrs. Weasley. "It's the middle of the summer!"

Fred and George looked uncomfortable for a minute, not sure what to say.

"Never mind, maybe I don't want to know," said Mrs. Weasley, shaking her head at the two of them.

As soon as Mr Weasley arrived they started eating.

"We have an announcement to make," said Tonks as they finished dessert.

Everyone looked up expectantly. Lupin smiled at her and she continued.

"We're going to be married at the end of the summer," she said, looking nervously around the table. "August 27th."

Mrs. Weasley jumped up and pulled Lupin and Tonks into a big hug. "I am so happy for you two!" she exclaimed, starting to cry.

Everyone congratulated the couple and there were lots of hugs.

"Where are you going to get married?" asked Ginny.

"Well, we were wondering if maybe we could have the wedding here," said Remus. "Would that be okay with you, Harry?"

"That would be great," said Harry, grinning from ear to ear.

The guys all went into the living room to talk and the girls stayed in the kitchen to help Tonks plan the wedding.

* * *

A/N: I know it's really short, but I'm going to make the next one longer. I'm very sorry for the long wait, but my classes are really hard this semester and I'm having trouble keeping up. 


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